The Last living Souls
by AddictedToTheWrittenWord
Summary: A devastating tragedy brings English teacher Michonne Mitchell to the small town of Possum Holler for some much needed peace of mind, but instead she finds herself in the middle of a scandal involving the widowed small town Sheriff and his troubled young son and infant daughter. When all hell on earth breaks loose the bond they've formed will be the only thing that keeps them alive
1. Chapter 1 Don't Wake Daddy

A/N: _I wasn't going to do a Richonne fic until I finished my Dixonne (which I promise I'm still working on) fic but sometimes an ideal for a story comes to you and it won't leave you alone until you write it. This story is highly AU and told from Michonne, Rick and Carl's perspective it doesn't follow the seasons or the comics in any particular order and though there are characters from the show and comics I've changed them up and rearranged things to fit my story. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome, but in the immortal words of Erykah Badu: Keep in mind that I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit._

**1\. Don't Wake Daddy**

The first day had been the hardest. It was the first time she'd been in _any_ school since the shooting. She'd stood in the hallway looking down it, and though it looked nothing like her old school, she could see him gun in hand covered in blood running towards her. Panic had bubbled up in her stomach leaving an acid taste in her mouth and her heart had started pounding so hard for a moment she thought she was having a heart attack. She had consider turning around and running out of the school, but she'd never run from anything in her life. She hadn't run when the young man had pointed the gun at her face so she didn't run from her first day back.

She didn't know how she'd made it through that first month it was almost all a blur to her. Every time she took roll call she would stare at her students wondering if one of them had it in them. She wondered if any of them were carrying guns. Which student was wound so tight that any minute they'd snap.

None of the students or staff seemed to notice what a bundle of nerves she was that first month, or if they had they'd chosen to ignore it. Instead they all saw her as some kind of hero, after all that's what all the papers were calling her, hero teacher. She didn't feel like a hero if she was a hero ten people wouldn't have died that day. Five students and four teachers wouldn't be lying in the cemetery and the young man who started it all wouldn't have taken his own life.

After the shooting Michonne quit teaching and sold her condo in Boston and moved into the house she'd inherited from her grandparents in the small town of Possum Holler Georgia. For a year and a half she'd done nothing but fix up the house and putter around the garden. The people of Possum Holler were curious and gossiped about her but did not pry overmuch and that was the way she liked it. Michonne had planned on an early retirement, but early retirement was not something that set well with her. Neither was giving into fear she had always wanted to be a teacher and she wasn't going to let anyone take that from her. Growing up she was the one kid in her neighborhood that always played school during summer vacation. Even her teachers had known that she was going to become a teacher. When the head of the English department retired that year at Possum Holler high school it did not take Michonne much convincing to go back into teaching, but it had taken a great deal to work up the courage to step inside a school again.

Now three-fourths of the school year was over and Michonne was proud of herself for making it this far. The slow pace of the tiny town was taking some getting used to, and her social life had been shot to hell but the trade off was peace of mind. Besides her job kept her so busy that she did not have much time to mourn for her lost social life. The school's curriculum was about ten years behind and a majority of the students didn't go on to graduate let alone seek a higher education. Most of her students didn't believe they could graduate, but Michonne would never allow them with getting away with any less than what she knew to be their best. She put in long hours staying after school to tutor students or just to listen to them whenever they needed someone to talk to. Today was another long day for Michonne she had a parent teacher conference with the town's sheriff about his son Carl. The sheriff didn't seem to interested in his son's academics though he'd already cancelled on her twice.

A locker slammed shut and Michonne jumped splashing hot coffee over her arm and desk. "Shit!" Michonne swore out loud. It happened a year and a half ago and she thought it would be enough time to stop jumping every time she heard a loud noise, but she was wrong. She reached into her desk draw and found some napkins and began wiping up the mess before it soaked the papers she'd been grading. It was amazing when she'd first heard the gun shots she didn't equate the noise with an actual gun, but after she knew what a gun shot sounded like she equated every bang as a gun shot.

"Ms. Mitchell?" A voice called from the doorway of her classroom.

Michonne looked up to the doorway of her classroom. "Yes Carl?"

"My dad is going to meet you here you know for the parent teacher conference, but he wanted me to stay after school he said he'd drive me home after you were done."

"Very well I'm just grading papers, she gestured vaguely, have a seat anywhere you'd like."

The young man slipped into one of the desk in the middle of the room and took his homework out of his book bag and began to work. "Ms. Mitchell?"

"Yes?"

Carl scrunched his face up and looked uncomfortable and his cheeks turned red. Michonne knew right away what he was going to ask her. She couldn't be upset with him everyone else had already questioned her about it at least he had shown more restraint than most adults.

"Yes?" she prompted again.

"Was it scary?" His eyes quickly darted up to look at her then quickly looked away. "Never mind sorry."

"It's OK Carl." She sighed feeling her palms sweat as she thought about that day. It had been so normal so boring that there was no way she could have known, no way anyone could have known until it was too late.

"It was very scary, but not until afterwards not until everyone had time to realize what really happened."

"Why do you think he did it? I mean was he bullied or something?"

"Carl is there something you'd like to talk to me about, is there something troubling you? I know I'm your teacher but you can come to me with anything."

"I don't want to shoot anyone!" Carl exclaimed his whole face flushing bright red again. "I just hate this school . Everyone keeps talking about my mom and it makes me angry. I get angry a lot and sometimes I wish- but I never would do it. I know it's wrong please don't tell my dad he wouldn't understand."

"Carl I want you to do me a favor, she opened her desk and pulled out a spiral bound notebook, I want you to start writing down your feelings. You don't have to do it everyday and you don't have to show it to anyone, but sometimes writing things down helps."

"Do you write things down?"

"I do and I also see a therapist. I was hesitant at first but it's been a real help, and there's no shame in asking for help when you need it."

"May-maybe I should see s-someone I try to talk to my dad but-" Carl broke off and looked out the window. "I should finish my homework."

Michonne went back to grading papers. She would not push him in to talking to her if he felt like telling her about his troubles at home he would. She had a fair ideal of what was going on anyway, but she'd never put much stock into idle gossip.

"I think maybe I should call my dad he might have forgotten that the conference was today."

Michonne looked at the clock on the wall and now realized that Carl's father was a half hour late.

The young man scowled. "It's going straight to voicemail."

"Well, Michonne said straightening a stack of papers, if he's not here in fifteen minutes I'll give you a lift home."

"Do you know where I live?"

"I'm sure I can find it if you gave me directions."

"OK." Carl mumbled and slumped down into his seat.

After twenty minutes had passed Michonne decided that she could wait no longer. She had things she needed to do and she was sure that Carl would like to get home. "Do you have all of your things?"

"Yes Ms. Mitchell." Carl replied pulling his backpack on to his shoulders.

"Good then let's go pay your father a visit shall we."

**2**

Carl was embarrassed to have Ms. Mitchell in his house. Nothing was ever clean any more, he watched as she took in the piles of dirty laundry on the couch and Judith's toys spread haphazardly all over the living room floor. The TV was still on and his dad was snoring away on the couch still in his sheriff's uniform. Judith was crying in her playpen and when she saw her brother she pulled herself up and reached her chubby arms out for him.

"Hey, hey Jude." He cooed lifting up his sister and rocking her in his arms. "Her pullup is wet." He explained to Ms. Mitchell and then turned his eyes towards the couch where his father was still sleeping. "He's usually not like this but he's been working nights now." Carl explained feeling the need to justify his father. They weren't getting along lately but he still didn't want anyone thinking badly of him.

"Seems as though your father has a lot on his plate." Ms. Mitchell said evenly.

His father woke with a start. "Carlisthatyou?"

"Yeah dad it's me and Ms. Mitchell."

"Who?" He asked sitting up and grounding the sleep out of his eyes.

"I'm Michonne Mitchell Carl's English teacher we were supposed to have a parent teacher conference today."

"Shit that was today!"

"Dad!"

"Sorry Carl." His father apologized sheepishly. "Mrs. Mitchell I'm so sorry. I must have overslept I just got switched to the graveyard shift and I guess I'm not used to it yet." He stood up and raked his fingers through his hair. "My name is Rick." He held out his hand

"It's Ms. Mitchell and it's fine this time." She said shaking his father's hand.

"I really am sorry."

"Shall we talk now?" Ms. Mitchell asked and Carl smirked from her tone of voice he could tell it was not really a question it was a demand.

Carl did not get to hear his father's response because he took his sister to her room so that he could change her pullup. Judith's room was the only room in the house that always remained clean. No matter how hectic things got his father at least made sure Judith had everything she needed whether it be clean clothes, food or plenty of hugs and kisses.

Carl wasn't sure how he felt when his mom first told him she was going to have a baby. Part of him had been glad because his parents had been fighting an awful lot and he thought a baby might make them get along better, but he'd been wrong. He'd been very wrong.

After Judith was born his mom had changed. She stayed in bed for days at a time and she would leave Judith in the crib crying. His mother who prided herself on her looks wouldn't change her clothes for days or comb her hair and it always seemed to Carl that she was crying. He never fully understood what was wrong with her but he'd heard the women at his church saying his mom had the "baby blues."

"It will pass." They said. "These new moms are so fragile in my day we didn't have all this postpartum nonsense." They said. Carl had hated that hated how everyone in town talked about his mom as if she could not hear what they were saying about her. When his mother had forgotten Judith at the pediatricians everyone in town had something to say about that. Her friends refused to talk to her and she'd been kicked out of the PTA, and even his dad had screamed at her for being a bad mother. Two days after the pediatrician incident his mother had asked him to take Judith to the park and when he'd come back home the police and fire department were there and his dad was crying.

**3**

Rick knew he was about to be told off. Carl's new English teacher had been trying to talk to him for quite sometime but he kept putting her off. Lately it had been his habit to put off all the unpleasant things in his life. His parents were on his back to move back in with them on their Kentucky horse farm. Lori's parents kept leaving messages on his phone wanting him to come down to Atlanta so that they could see their newest grandchild. Carl would hardly speak to him anymore and Rick could hardly blame him. He had not been there for his wife like he should have. Lori had been depressed when Carl was born but it had not been so bad then, or maybe he'd been more supportive then.

Things were different with this second pregnancy. When they had Carl they were still young and lived in a tiny apartment above a bowling alley and life had seemed like an exciting adventure. With Judith he had a mortgage, two car notes, credit card debt and now two kids he would have to put through college. He wasn't young anymore either. He was closer to forty an age he had not prepared himself for, an age he never saw himself reaching. He thought of what a baby would mean at forty but he didn't stop to think what having a baby meant to Lori.

He'd been a selfish prick and the irony of it all was that he finally knew depression. He knew what it was like to physically not be able to get out of bed because going through the motions of another day were so overwhelming you wanted to sleep forever. He knew what it was like to be so apathetic towards living that you could step in front of a truck and not care if it hit you. He knew what it was to slip into a place so dark and deep that there seem to be no way out, and it was probably only an inkling of what Lori felt. He knew now that depression was physical just as much as it was mental. He had failed Lori and in failing her he'd failed his son and daughter.

"I'm very concerned Mr. Grimes." Ms. Mitchell began.

"Please call me Rick."

"I'm very concerned about your son and you quite frankly."

"I'm concerned about Carl too, but he won't talk to me he just bottles everything up but I know he's hurting."

"Have you ever consider talking to anyone?"

"What like a shrink?"

"A psychiatrist Mr. Grimes. I think you and your son would both benefit from talking to someone."

"You mean someone other than me."

"I think your son would like to talk to you but doesn't know how. I don't know the particulars of what happened in your life, but I do know it's having a profound effect on your son and despite all of that he's still a very good student with a very good head on his shoulders so you most be doing something right, but I won't lie what I walked in on today is concerning."

"I know it's the switch to night shift it'll take some time getting used to but we'll get there."

"I think that's only part of your problem. As a teacher I really should report matters like this, but I consider myself a pretty good judge of character Mr. Grimes and you don't seem like a bad man just an overwhelmed one. So I won't make a report to CPS for now, but I warn you if I don't see a marked improvement in Carl by the end of the school year I will report you sheriff or not. Are we clear on that Mr. Grimes?"

"Crystal Ms. Mitchell and please call me Rick."


	2. Chapter 2 Lend me your ear

**2\. Lend me your ears**

The smell of fresh brewing coffee woke Michonne up as it always did in the morning. Her cat Allegory jumped on her bed and began rubbing her head under Michonne's chin.

"Hi there Alley." Michonne greeted scratching her cat on the head. Allegory purred loudly and then hopped off the bed meowing for her breakfast. She followed her cat into the kitchen and plopped a can of Fancy Feast in her bowl. Allegory wound herself around Michonne's ankles in thanks before devouring her food.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and dropped a bagel into her toaster. Already she was dreading today one of her students, Nick Hayden, had plagiarized his essay and the school policy for that was an immediate suspension. Michonne was more than sure that Nick's father was going to contest the suspension. . She had already had a run in with Nick's father for assigning her students to read Not Without Laughter.

"Ms. Mitchell and I heard all about you saving them kids, but I just don't see how reading a book written by a dead colored man is gonna help my son." He'd actually used the word colored. "Maybe you could give him a different book to read."

Michonne had smiled politely. "Your son can read the same book as everyone else or he can take a failing grade for not doing the work." She would not budge or change her coursework to placate a bigoted parent.

"Wish me luck Alley." Michonne said to her cat who was now licking herself clean. After showering she walked into her closet and decided on an outfit to wear. Her work clothes consisted mainly of designer dresses she brought on sell and stylish high heels. Some of the older teachers thought she dressed too flashy. This was expressed in looks rather than words, but as long as her clothes were within the dress code and as long as she was paying for her wardrobe she'd dress how she wanted to. She picked out a white silk-crepe V-neck dress with slit sleeves and a ruffled trim. She threw her hair into a bun. She never wore very much make up she liked a clean fresh natural look. After she checked that she looked OK she made her way to the work.

Michonne parked in her usual space and headed into school. Many of her students greeted her, and she smiled and greeted them back, as she made her way to the principal's office.

Nick was already in the office sitting behind the principal's desk chewing on his nails. He glared daggers at her as she came through the door. Michonne chose to ignore him and took a seat next to Mr. Waters the school principal.

"Nick do you know why you're here?" Mr. Waters questioned.

"No." He said.

"The paper you wrote for Ms. Mitchell's English class was plagiarized, Miss Mitchell printed this copy from the internet. Do you have anything to say in your defense."

"Is it really that big of a deal? I mean can't I write a make up paper?"

"I'm afraid not you know the rules I'm going to have to suspend you."

"You can't suspend me!" Nick yelled his face red as a beet and his eyes bulged in their sockets.

Michonne sighed.

"My dad's lawyer is gonna hear about this he's not going to let this happen."

"It's already happened." Mr. Waters explained calmly.

Nick jumped out of his chair and lunged forward and pounded his fist on the desk. "You'll pay for this you fucking bitch!"

"That's enough!" Mr. Waters shouted he too stood up. "You're looking at an expulsion now. You can't threaten teachers!"

"I don't care! If you expel me I swear I'll fuck her up!"

"Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine." Michonne said. Mr. Waters had called the police after Nick had threatened her, and Michonne was not surprised Sheriff Grimes was the one to respond to the call. She knew better than anyone else how importantly schools took verbal threats.

"We've taken the young Mr. Hayden down to the station and we'll put a patrol car outside of your house for tonight just to be safe." Rick assured her.

Michonne couldn't help but notice how different the Sheriff looked now that he was alert and in his full sheriff's uniform. He looked capable and authoritative not words she would have used to describe him when she had first met him.

"Thank you."

"It's the least we could do." He said. "We're very thankful to have a teacher like you here at Possum Holler and I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

"Are you sure you'll be OK?" Mr. Waters asked. "If you need to take the rest of the day off I'll understand."

"No if you don't mind I'd just like to get back to class."

"I'll walk you there." Rick offered.

Michonne was going to say that wasn't necessary but she got the feeling that Rick wanted to talk to her.

"I just want to thank you. I didn't get to tell you this before, but at the risk of embarrassing my son, you're Carl's favorite teacher. He talks about you all the time."

"I'm glad, Carl has a very active imagination and a lot of potential as a writer."

"Really and here I was worried he was rotting his brain with all those video games and comics."

"Well had you come to the conference I set up I could have told you what a wonderful student Carl is."

"Touché."

"I'm sorry I shouldn't be trying to make you feel bad, you've enough your dealing with. I just want you to nurture the potential in your son." Michonne stopped outside of her classroom.

"No I deserve it."

"Have you found someone for the two of you to talk to yet?."

"No, I'm still thinking about it."

"Don't think too hard." Michonne said and walked into her class room. "I'll see you later Mr. Grimes I'm sure.

"You'll see me tonight." Rick called.

Michonne spun around and stuck her head out of the door. "Excuse me?"

"I told you I was going to put a patrol car outside of your house, well whose patrol car do you think it's going to be?" Rick flashed her a boyish smile.

Michonne smiled back. "I'll see you tonight."

**2**

"Hey did you hear?" Carl's best friend Roy Wayne Paul asked.

"Hear what?" He plunked a carton of milk on his lunch tray and moved down the line.

"About your dad?"

"What happened!" Carl felt his stomach drop to his feet had his dad been shot? That was one of his biggest fears, his father dying and making him and Judith orphans.

"Your dad escorted Nick Hayden out of school in cuffs dude! He got expelled for pulling a knife on Ms. Mitchell dude!"

"No he didn't snapped Jessica Styles. Jessica was head cheerleader and the most popular girl in the ninth grade, and normally wouldn't be caught dead talking to Carl, but he guessed rumor spreading allowed for a little wiggle room. "He put out a mob hit on her."

"Wrong! Nick pushed Ms. Mitchell down a flight of stairs." Carl's other friend Kevin Sternberg informed Jessica. Kevin always tried to flirt with Jessica and always made a fool of himself.

"Really?" Jessica said with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her hair. "Then why is there no ambulance? I swear you guys will believe anything."

"Doesn't matter Carl will tell me what really happened when he finds out." Roy Wayne Paul said reaching for a slice of pizza. "Won't you."

Carl shrugged indifferently. He wasn't surprised that Nick had been expelled, in fact he was glad, the kid was a psycho. Nick was the ring leader of the kids who picked on him. Nick had shoved Carl into lockers, shoved his head into toilets. Nick told everyone Carl's mom had killed herself because her son was such a disappointment.

"This probably won't be Nick's first time in jail he's got all the makings of a future serial killer." Kevin said.

"Future? Dude he's probably already killed and we just don't know it. Remember the time he broke my nose in dodge ball?" Roy Wayne Paul added. "I hope your dad puts him in the cell with the really violent offenders dude."

Carl snorted. "What violent offenders? The worst crime that ever happened here was with Mr. Casper and his pig and that wasn't violent just disturbing."

"I'm eating." Roy Wayne Paul moaned and Carl and Kevin dissolved into laughter.

Kevin stopped laughing and looked serious for a moment. "You don't really think Nick hurt Ms. Mitchell do you?"

"We've got English next period so I guess we'll find out." Roy Wayne Paul replied.

English was one of the few classes Carl looked forward to. Ms. Mitchell never gave out too much homework or called on students when she knew they didn't know the answer.

"I'm sure nothing bad happened to her my dad would have told me if there was, plus there would have been some kind of announcement." Carl opened his milk drained the carton and then crushed it flat. Carl made up his mind that he would talk to his dad when he got home from school to warn him what a psycho Nick was. He couldn't tell his father about being bullied by Nick it was just too embarrassing but he'd get his point across. If something happened to Ms. Mitchell it would be as almost as bad as something happening to his dad. She was the only other adult right now in his life that he could trust.

Carl could still clearly remember at the beginning of the semester when his class had done biographies on famous authors. One girl in his class had done a biography on Sylvia Plath and once she'd been called up in front of the class to do her oral presentation Carl had known it was coming.

"Hey Carl wasn't that your mom's favorite author?" Nick had said loudly. "I'll bet Sylvia's poems really took her breath away hun Carl?"

Carl had felt his cheeks flame as everyone in class had looked at him and a few students even snickered. He wanted to get up and punch Nick in his stupid face, but Nick was both taller and bigger than Carl, so he'd just sat there knowing that Nick was only getting warmed up. He bit at the inside of his lip so that the tears that were welling up in his eyes wouldn't fall. If he cried in front of Nick he might as well change schools because Nick would never let him live it down. Teachers never stopped Nick from picking on people they usually just found a way to put the blame on the student who was on the receiving end of the torment for not being able to take it. Not Ms. Mitchell though.

"Is there a reason why you're talking while another student is trying to give a report Nick?"

Nick had looked nonplussed that a teacher would have the temerity to reprimand him in front of the class. "Please come to the front of the class and tell us all what you find so funny about suicide."

Nick, who had remained in his seat, slumped down. "I don't think it's funny I just think that people who commit suicide are selfish and going to hell."

"Well Nick unless you're a professional who's been trained to know why people do commit suicide then I don't think your opinion is very valid or wanted, and unless I ask you for it I'd very much like you to keep it to yourself. Now the next time you interrupt my class to make a blanket statement about things you know nothing about you'll be serving a weeks worth of detentions."

Up until that point no one in class had ever head Ms. Mitchell's angry voice. She didn't yell her voice came out low, calm and collected and that some how made it all the more intimidating. From that moment Carl knew that he was going to like Ms. Mitchell. He was going to like her a lot.

**3**

"Dad can I talk to you?"

Rick opened his eyes and sat up on his bed, he was trying to get some much needed rest, but talking to his son who'd been so distance towards him since Lori's death was better more important than rest.

"Yeah?" He tried not to show his surprise, but it had been so long since Carl had come to talk to him voluntarily that he couldn't keep his face blank.

"Is Nick going to jail?"

"What he did was just a misdemeanor since he didn't have a weapon on him, so I'm afraid not."

"Is he gong to be in trouble at all? He's not exactly harmless just ask the kids at school."

"He'll get probation", but I'm not going to let anything happen to Ms. Mitchell I promise. I'm going to make a welfare check on her and watch her house for awhile. Trust me no one is going to try anything stupid with a cop car sitting outside of her house."

"Good."

"Ms. Mitchell told me you're one of her better students said you have a real talent for writing."

"Ms. Mitchell said that?"

"She did. So what kind of stuff to you write about? All kinds of things I'll bet."

"It's kind of private dad."

"Oh right." Every time he made two steps forward with his son it was to only take two steps back. He could still remember when Carl had wanted to be just like him. He had loved going to the police department so he could sit behind his desk and wear his hat and now Carl couldn't even stand to be in the same room with him. 'You hungry I made sloppy Joes."

"No, I already ate"

Since Lori died they didn't even eat dinner together anymore. Lori had been fanatic about them eating dinner together every night and that was something that he missed. The bridge between the two of them seem to be growing wider everyday and soon Carl would be in college and Judith would be dating and neither of them would need him and all he would have is his Harry Chapin cd's and his pension. He wonder what it was about Michonne that made his son want to open up to her? What skill did she have with Carl that he was lacking or was it simply because she wasn't his parent? He could ask her what Carl wrote about though she probably would not tell him, and he did not like feeling like he had to spy on his child to find out about him. He sighed. If only he wasn't such a lousy father. If only he'd taken Lori's depression more seriously. If only he'd been there that day or if the Fed Ex delivery arrived a little sooner. If. If. If. That one word had taken over his whole life. He couldn't go back and change things but he could not accept things as they were.

He looked at his son. Sometimes Carl looked so much like Lori it made him want to weep. What if Carl was depressed would he know, and even if he did know would he know what to do about it? If. If. If. There was that word again. Ms. Mitchell had told him he needed to talk to someone, well she was someone and she knew both him and Carl, and he was going to be on patrol at her place tonight. It made perfectly logical sense to Rick that he should talk to her he hoped she wouldn't mind.


	3. Chapter 3 Hot for teacher

**3\. Hot for Teacher**

Michonne hummed to herself as she chopped romaine for her lunch the next day at work. Allegory yowled a her feet hoping for a bite of something to eat.

"You don't even like salad so stop begging." Michonne scolded. She rinsed the romaine off in the sink and began slicing up a tomato to add to the salad. Allegory was still unconvinced that Michonne wasn't making something for her and began circling around her ankle. "All right you little stinker I give in you can have a treat." She conceded unable to ignore her very vocal Siamese.

Michonne was looking in the pantry of the cat treats when her doorbell rang. "Who is it?" Michonne called out as she made her way to the front door.

"Officer Rick Grimes, I'm here making a welfare check."

Michonne stood on her tiptoes and looked through the peep hole you could never be too safe. When she saw Rick's face she smiled and opened her door.

Michonne stepped back from the doorway. "Come in."

"Everything OK?"

" So far yes."

" Good. You've a nice place." Rick said looking around. "Very nice house, craftsman?"

"Yes my grandfather build this house from blueprints he got out of the sears catalog. Can I get you anything?"

"Coffee if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"None at all, how do you take it?"

"One cream three sugars."

"Follow me."

"Who's this pretty kitty?" Rick asked bending down to pet her cat who'd come into the living room to check him out.

"That's Allegory, Alley for short."

Rick smiled. "Allegory I like it."

Michonne busied herself making the coffee and then got down a plate and arranged some Pepperidge farm Milano cookies on it. She took it all to the table and Rick followed her.

"I've been thinking about how you said that I should talk to someone, and I was wondering if I could talk to you, not like a therapist or anything. I just have a few questions about my son that I thought that you could answer."

"Of course."

"Does Carl seem happy in school? Does he get along with his friends?" Rick asked her. "I know these are questions I probably should know the answers to, but I can't get him to open up to me."

"As far as I can tell Carl is coping and his friends are good kids, but coping isn't the same as being happy and I really do think you should see someone a professional someone."

"I know, I know but it's hard, when it comes to opening up Carl is just as stubborn as I am."

"You're opening up to me and you don't know me very well."

"You've got this connection with my son so it's different. I think he'd be worse off if it weren't for you. Carl was close with his mother and now that she's gone he's just shut down"

Michonne put her hand on Rick's. "I'm so sorry about your wife. Carl showed me a picture of her she was a lovely woman."

Rick smiled. "She was and I took her for granted. I took everything I used to have for granted."

"You can't keep beating yourself up or thinking what if. You'll never be able to move forward if you don't and that's not healthy for you or your children."

"I'm sorry." Rick said suddenly. "I keep forgetting you've been through a trauma yourself you're right I shouldn't be burdening you with all my problems I should see a therapist."

Michonne finished her coffee and offered Rick the last cookie which he took. "I don't mind talking to you, but I'm not a professional so I don't know how much real help I can offer you."

"You've been more help than you know." Rick said standing up. He collected the dishes, took them over to the sink, washed them up and then put them on the draining board

"Thanks for checking on me."

" You're welcome. I should be going now." He put his hat back on and Michonne walked him to the front door. Rick pulled out his wallet and fished out a business card. "Here's a card with my direct line on it if you do run into any trouble promise you'll call me and I'll be here right away."

"I promise if you promise me you'll talk to your son maybe even take him and Judith out somewhere."

"Cross my heart ."

When Rick had gone Michonne locked her front door and leaned up against it. "What have I gotten myself into Alley?"

**2**

Rick decided that he was going to follow some of Michonne's advice. He was going to get his son to open up to him or die trying. He had some time off work he decided he was going to reconnect with his children. Today he was taking Judith to the park for a picnic lunch and hopefully he could get Carl to go with them.

"Ready to feed the ducks Jude?" He asked his daughter as he tossed her into the air then caught her.

Judith squealed with delight feeding the ducks was one of her favorite activities.

Carl was in his room playing one of his video games. Rick knocked on his door and a few moments later it opened. "I'm taking Jude to the park to feed the ducks want to come with?"

"OK."

"All right then." Rick smiled feeling like for once things were finally going right.

"Don't forget Jude's toy boats you know how loud she can scream."

"I didn't forget and I packed lunch too."

After Carl had changed he help load everything up into their Durango. It was a perfect day out low humidity but with lots of sun and not a cloud in the sky. Possum Holler Park was packed with families who decided to take in the wonderful weather as well. Rick parked the Durango and as soon as he stepped foot into the parking lot Judith began wriggling to get out of Rick's arm.

"I'll take her to the pond while you set up." Carl offered noticing how anxious his little sister was to see the ducks. Rick handed him a loaf of bread and the two headed off to the pond as quick as Judith's little legs would carry her.

Rick had almost forgotten how much simple things mattered like spending time together. All three of them needed to be out of the house and away from the bad memories that lingered there like a ghost. Often he had thought of moving away but he had Carl to think about, and moving him away from his school and all his friends would probably do more harm than good at this point.

He spread out the blanket and unpacked the picnic hamper. As he watched Carl and Judith feeding the ducks he had the strong belief that he could finally begin to put his family back together. Lori's suicide had torn him asunder making him feel as if he didn't have the right to be happy ever again, and his feelings of guilt were being manifested in his children making them all unhappy.

"Hey dad look who's here!" Carl cried out from across the park.

Rick looked up to see Carl coming back with Ms. Mitchell in tow. She was wearing a spandex outfit so she must have been running. Rick tried not to stare but it was hard when so much toned skin was showing.

"Aah hi." Rick stood up and held out his hand for her to shake feeling foolish as soon as he did. Michonne didn't take his hand she just smiled.

"Have lunch with us." Carl said. "We have more than enough food."

"Oh I wouldn't want to spoil you're family outing."

"No it's OK isn't it dad."

"Sure at least have a bottle of water." He opened the cooler and handed her one.

"Thanks." She opened the bottle of water and drank it down as if she'd been wandering the desert for days.

Rick watched with a sort of hypnotized fascination until he saw that Carl was watching him watch her quickly he pulled his eyes away.

His son smirked at him and patted the space between him and his sister. "Sit down Ms. Mitchell."

She sat and so did Rick.

"Look my toys" Judith said holding up one of her plastic zoo animals.

"What a cute elephant."

"We play." Judith said and handed Michonne a tiger.

Rick watched the two of them fondly Judith normally wasn't comfortable with strangers, but he realized that since he and Carl were at ease with her so was Jude. Michonne made animal noises for each of the animals that Jude handed her and said their names.

"Rawr, tiger."

"She likes you Ms. Mitchell" Carl said.

"I like her too, Michonne said, she such a little cutie."

Michonne stayed and had lunch with them and Carl and Judith monopolized most of her time. When the picnic was over she helped them clean up.

"Thanks for staying for lunch it meant a lot to my children."

"I'm just glad to see the three of you getting out and about."

"Well some very smart lady told me I should."

"Da-ad Jude wet herself."

Rick flustered and covered his face with his hands. "I swear She's potty trained, mostly potty trained."

"Rome wasn't built in a day"

"I didn't bring any extra pull-ups so I should probably get going."

"I'll see you in class tomorrow Carl, and the next time I see you Mr. Grimes hopefully it will be at at parent teacher conference."

Rick watched Michonne go enjoying the way she looked from behind. He watched her walk until he couldn't see her anymore.

"She's really nice isn't she dad?" Carl asked at his side suddenly making him jump.

"Yes she is."

"Jude likes her too."

"Yeah she does."

"What about you dad? Do you like Ms. Mitchell?"

Rick stared at Carl wondering what his son was really asking him.

**3**

Carl took his time gathering up his books after English class so that he could wait until all the other students had left to talk to Ms. Mitchell. He watched her for a few seconds as she wiped off the whiteboard before making his approach.

"Ms. Mitchell."

"Yes?"

He felt his face turning red and he wished he did not have the annoying habit of blushing every time he felt uncomfortable which was just about every second of his life. "I er I wrote something, a story, and I was wondering if you could tell me what you thought about it. I mean since you teach English and everything. Not that you have to or anything I know you're busy. Oh how he wish he could stop rambling.

"Carl, Ms. Mitchell said, I'd be honored to read your story."

When Carl's dad had asked him what he wrote about the other day he had wanted to tell him, but he was too embarrassed. His story was about a police officer that died in the line of duty and came back as a ghost who haunted murders until they confessed. He wasn't sure how his dad would take it especially since he'd partially based his protagonist off of his father.

Ms. Mitchell sat behind her desk and began reading his story. Carl stood there with bated breath waiting. Why had he given her his paper? She would probably hate it. Up until now he had convinced himself that he could actually write and now he was convinced he was the worst writer in the world. He wanted to run from the room he had never shown anyone his writing, not even his friends, and now he was showing it to a teacher she would probably laugh at him. She would probably tell him that he should never write anything again.

"I'm impressed, for someone so young you seem to have quite an understanding of the inner workings of an adult mind."

"So you don't think it sucks?"

"No Carl I don't think it sucks you have a way with words and that's something that can't be taught."

"Really!"

"Yes really."

"You're not just saying that?"

"Carl do I seem like the type to just say things?"

"No."

"I was going to write more but I didn't know if was any good."

"Your story needs work but you should continue to write. There's a youth writing camp in Atlanta this year maybe you could talk to your father about attending."

"That sounds kind of cool I'll talk to my dad." Carl said taking his story back. "Oh did my dad stop by?"

"What!" Ms. Mitchell's head snapped up and her mouth dropped open.

"My dad said he was going to stop by your house to make a welfare check."

"Oh, yes he stopped by briefly."

Carl stared at Michonne and wondered why she seem so flustered. Was it because she liked his dad? Carl was pretty sure that his dad, as his uncle Jeffrey would say, was warm for Ms. Mitchell's form. He had seen his dad at the park checking his teacher out which he found gross and amusing at the same time. Sunday Ms. Mitchell had come by their house to drop off some books she'd brought as a present for Judith, and his dad had invited Ms. Mitchell in for coffee. Carl had heard the two of them in the kitchen and when his dad spoke he actually sounded happy and he was laughing. He could not remember the last time he had heard the sound of his father's laughter.

The ideal of his dad dating still made Carl feel a bit uncomfortable, but if his dad did start dating again he wouldn't mind it if it was Ms. Mitchell. It had been two years since his mom had died and in those two years his dad had not showed interest in any woman. Plenty of women from their church had tried to become the next Mrs. Grimes. Some of the women who tried were the very same women who had talked about his mother being unfit. Carl had disliked every single one of them. He had hated how they dropped by the house with out being invited and feinted interest in him, all the while talking about how they could take much better care of Judith than his mom had. They acted as if his dad was a prize at a raffle and they were holding the winning ticket.

Ms. Mitchell had never said anything about his mom even though Carl knew she had heard all the rumors about her. When he had shown her a picture of his mom she told him that his mother was beautiful and he knew she did not think his mom was going to hell for what she had done.

No one could ever replace his mother and he knew his dad would never forget his mom either, but she would want them to be happy and Ms. Mitchell made them all happy. Without Ms. Mitchell around his dad would probably go back to being depressed. Judith would go back to being quiet and he would go back to being ignored, and he couldn't go back to living that way not when they had the chance to finally be happy again.

"Ms. Mitchell." Carl said struck with a sudden ideal. "Do you think you could talk to my dad about that writing camp?"

"Sure."

"Like maybe tonight my dad doesn't have to work and he made lasagna for dinner it's really good."

Ms. Mitchell gave Carl a skeptical stare as if she knew exactly what it was he was up to.

"_Please,_ if you talked to him I know he'd say yes about that writing camp, and you could have your conference at the same time."

"Don't you think you should ask your father if all of this is OK first?"

"He won't mind and Jude will be really happy to see you again."

That did it. Carl knew if he mentioned his sister there'd be no way she could say no, but she made him call his father first so that she could talk to him. His father agreed like he knew that he would proving to Carl that his dad did in fact like his teacher.

When Carl got home from school he noticed that his dad had shaved and put on one of his nicer shirts. The whole house had been cleaned up and the table was set. Usually the kitchen table was covered with old newspapers, library books and mail but today it'd been polished and their nice dishes sat atop it.

"Smells good in here." Carl noted.

"I just want to make a good impression on your teacher."

"I'll bet you do." Carl said under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

His father gave him the same skeptical look Ms. Mitchell had, as if he too was exactly sure what Carl was up to.

If his father and Ms. Mitchell knew what he was up to, and they went ahead with his plans anyway, that only meant one thing to Carl. That they wanted this date to happen as much as he did.


	4. Chapter 4 Lifelines

**4\. Lifelines**

Michonne stared in her closet wondering why she was taking so long to choose an outfit it wasn't like she was going on a date it was a parent teacher conference. "Who am I kidding Alley I've been set up." She had to laugh at the fact that she'd been set up by one of her students. Did her social life seem that bad that thirteen year olds were setting her up now?

She hadn't been on anything close to a date since the shooting. It was hard enough just making it through one day she couldn't handle the added stress of a relationship. After the shooting she stayed inside and hardly opened the curtains. she never slept she spent her nights talking to herself and pacing the halls of her condo. . Her phone rang but she didn't pick it up she couldn't bring herself to talk to anyone. The state of nonbeing had taken her over so slowly that she didn't even notice how she had faded away from the world. The shooting had changed her whole reality. She was no longer Michonne. Now she was the teacher that had a scar from where a student she saw in class everyday shot her. Every time she had to look at the gun shot wound on her thigh she would cry. Whenever she closed her eyes she would hear the screams, and then it was getting to where she didn't even have to close her eyes she heard their screams all the time. The faces of the students that died haunted her. She saw their faces in random young people she passed on the street. If she drove by as school she would break out in a cold sweat. The outside world was too loud, too open, too unpredictable.

A school shooting was every teacher's nightmare. After watching her students die Michonne had wanted to distance herself from her students at Possum Holler, but it hadn't worked,she couldn't be a teacher and be distant towards her students. Carl Grimes had found his way right into her heart. Now it seemed his whole family was finding a place into her heart.

Michonne finally decided to wear her red charmeuse shell top with flutter sleeves and a pair of her well broken in Levi's. She added a pair of silver hoop earrings and a silver bangle. "What do you think Alley, have I perfected the I'm trying but I'm not trying too hard look or not?"

Allegory meowed and jumped down from the bed.

"I'll take that as a yes." Rick had asked her to come over at six so Michonne had a little time, and since she didn't like coming over to anyone's house empty handed she made a picture of ginger lemonade to bring over. It wasn't a far drive to Rick's house. He lived in a ranch three streets down from her. She pulled her Camry in his driveway behind his Durango. Michonne checked herself in her rearview mirror one last time to make sure she didn't have lipstick on her teeth or anything else embarrassing then collected her ginger lemonade and Carl's files and rang the doorbell.

"Hello Michonne." Rick said answering the door. He was wearing a green apron over his clothes that said: He who cooks is king. "Dinner isn't quite ready yet but please have a seat in the living room."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No you're the guest relax."

"I brought some ginger lemonade I hope you'll like it."

"We'll love it I'm sure I'll just go put this in the refrigerator."

Michonne noticed that the whole house had been cleaned up since she'd been there. The living room had a Country Living feel to it. It was very quaint and cozy and Michonne imagined that Lori must have been very house proud. There were pictures of Rick, Lori,Carl and Judith hung up on the walls and on the fireplace mantel. They all looked so happy in their pictures and Michonne wondered what went wrong. How had what seemed like such a happy family become such a broken family?

"Ms. Mitchell when did you get here?" Carl asked coming into the living room with his little sister,who was holding a book, in his arms. "I didn't hear the doorbell."

"I just got here a few minutes ago."

"Oh, no wonder I didn't hear you come in I was giving Jude a bath and she totally soaked me. I had to change clothes." Carl put his sister down.

"You help your father out a lot don't you that's very nice."

"My dad has to work at lot so I look out for Jude."

Michonne smiled sadly. Carl was dealing with so much trying to be an adult and not quite succeeding.

Judith climbed up on the couch beside Michonne and put her book in Michonne's lap. "You read me peez"

Michonne picked up the book, Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp, and was pleasantly surprised because it was one of the books she'd given to Judith as a gift.

"She always wants that one now." Carl explained. "Dad and I are sick of reading it."

"Well it's a good thing I'm not." Michonne said. She opened the book and started to read making voices for each of the characters. Judith moved closer and listened with rapt attention. Carl sat on the other side of her laughing at the voices she put on. Moments like this were the reason why Michonne had become an English teacher. To her there was no better feeling than installing a life long love of reading in a child. There was nothing better than giving them to tools to go out and be anyone they believed that they could become. When Michonne finished the story Judith clapped her tiny hands.

Rick came out of the kitchen sans apron to announce that dinner was ready.

"It's about time I'm starving." Carl grumbled and picked his sister up from the couch.

"It smells wonderful."

"Thank you, Rick said to Michonne, it's nice to know someone appreciates my culinary expertise."

"Yeah right, Lasagna is the only thing you know how to cook."

"Quiet you." Rick said and took his daughter from his son and sat her in her booster seat.

Carl was right when he said that his father's lasagna was good. "This taste wonderful Mr. Grimes, Rick."

"Thanks it's my mom's recipe."

"So dad what are we doing this summer?' Carl asked.

"Oh we might visit your grandparents in Atlanta and then maybe go camping. Why do you ask?"

Michonne exchanged a hopeful look with Carl. "Well speaking of Atlanta there's a youth writing camp going on down there this summer, and I think it would be really beneficial for Carl to attend. It only last two weeks so you'd still have time for your other plans as well"

Rick wiped off Judith's mouth. "Really? Does that sound like something you'd like to do Carl?"

"Yeah!"

"Well I brought a pamphlet if you'd like more information on it". She handed the pamphlet to Rick.

"What you name?" Judith asked pointing at Michonne.

"My name is Mimi."

"Mimi, Mimi." Judith sang.

Carl looked at her questioningly.

"Mimi is what my nephews and nieces call me. Do I not look like a Mimi to you?"

"Mimi is an old lady's name. You're not old."

"Bless you my child."

"So, Rick began, would you like dessert or would you like to get started on the conference?"

"I couldn't eat another bite so I think it's best we get started."

Carl took his cue to leave and lifted Judith out of her booster seat and took her from the room.

Rick watched them go and then as soon as they were out of earshot turned back to Michonne. "Are my sons grades OK?" Is he going to pass?"

"Yes, I was going to recommend he take my AP English class next year."

"Good then if you don't mind could I tell you what happened with my wife. I think maybe it will help you to help me with my son."

"Of course."

"I think I need a beer, would you like one."

"Sure."

Rick grabbed two Heinekens from the refrigerator. "Is a bottle fine or would you like a glass?"

"A bottle is fine thank you."

Rick sat across from Michonne and twisted the cap of his beer and nervously spun it for a second. He took a long pull from his beer before speaking, and when he did speak he looked at a spot on the wall just above Michonne's head as if looking in her eyes was too hard. She knew that feeling all to well.

"I got the call over my radio. They didn't say what had happened just that there was an incident at my house. I put on my siren and did well over ninety miles per hour all the way there." Rick closed his eyes and took another drink from his beer. "She was dead when I got there but her body was still in the car. She'd run a hose from the tailpipe of the exhaust to the front seat of the car."

"Oh Rick I am so sorry." Michonne said she had not taken a drink of her beer yet.

"She left a note that said:_ 'I know that I'm a shitty wife and I'm not winning any mother of the year awards, but I need you to know that I love you. I've always loved you. I love Carl and Judith always. I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to stay.'_ I read that note and lost it. I just broke down and started screaming my partner said I needed to think of my children, and when I pulled myself together and turned around there were Carl and Judith.

Michonne was crying silent tears that she didn't even bother to wipe away.

"Carl saw her being brought out on a stretcher her body was covered by a sheet but he wanted to see her. He wouldn't believe me when I told him she was dead. I never told him how his mother died but he knew. He started screaming that I killed Lori. He wanted the other officers to put me in the back of a cruiser and take me to jail. I wanted them to take me to jail too because in that moment I thought Carl was right, my indifference did kill my wife."

Michonne wanted to say something to Rick but what was there to say? No wonder he looked like he was about to fall apart at the seams when she'd first saw him. Carl had that same look about him too, that look like he'd just come undone, and nothing could put him back together. It was a look that she could instantly recognize now.

"Carl didn't speak to me for a two months after his mother died, Rick looked up with watery red rimmed eyes, and looked into Michonne's eyes, then you came and you got him to start writing and it helped him. I don't even think he knew he had that talent, but now that he does it's like a new outlet for him. I heard you in there reading to my daughter and I just want to thank you. Lori will never get to do that for her but she needs that. I need that"

"I think I need it too."

**2**

It was nine o clock and Carl suddenly realized that he had not heard the front door open or close. He looked out of his bedroom window and saw that Ms. Mitchell's car was still parked in the driveway he wondered what she was still doing here so late. There was no way that she and his father could still be having their conference. He paused his video game, opened his door as quietly as possible, and crept out into the hallway.

The pair were still in the kitchen he could just make out the sound of their voices. He tiptoed closer and stuck his head in the doorway, and there was his dad and Ms. Mitchell at the sink doing dishes together his dad had rolled up his sleeves and was handing a plate to Ms. Mitchell to dry. Their voices were so low that he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew it wasn't about him or how he was doing in school, for one thing Ms. Mitchell had her shoes off, and for another his dad was staring at his teacher's boobs. Carl turned around and crept back into his room before he died of second hand embarrassment. He lied down on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. The solar system that he and his father had painted when he was eight years old was still up there. They had gotten blue paint all over themselves and his mom had said they looked like smurfs. She would never tell him anything like that again.

He couldn't help but wonder how his mother would feel about his father getting with another woman. It gave him a funny feeling to think about. He knew that his father would not remain single forever, and even though he did like Ms. Mitchell his dad's moving on felt somehow disloyal. Sometimes Carl didn't want his father to be happy. A selfish and very stubbron part of him still wanted to punish his father for his mother's death. It was easier to blame his dad than to accept the fact that his mother killed herself, because that somehow meant that he wasn't worth living for. Carl sometimes wondered if his mother ever loved him or Judith at all because if she had how could she have done what she did? There were times when he even hated his mother for leaving them all alone, but in the end that only lead to him hating himself and now he just wanted all of those feelings to be gone.

That's how Ms. Mitchell had helped him. She told him to write down his feelings and when he did he found it helped him sort out all the shit that had been churning in his mind all day. _She did that mom not you!_ Carl thought bitterly. _She's here now not you!_ His brain raged and once it set off on a crazy tangent like this it was hard to stop. _You could have been here. I still wish you were, but you didn't want us. Did you hate life with us that much? I didn't even get to say goodbye. Why wasn't I even good enough for a goodbye?_

Finally he heard the front door open and he got off his bed and looked out the window. His dad was walking Ms. Mitchell to her car and he opened the door for her and then closed it for her. She waved to his father before pulling off. His father watched her car go then turned back into the house. He heard his father whistling down the hall as he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. Carl wondered what the two of them had talked about. Had they talked about his mother? Did his dad tell her about that awful day? The stretcher carrying his mother's body had seem so flat that he could not believe that his mother was under that blanket. Carl had wanted to see that it was really her but his father hadn't let him look. He let out a huge sigh wishing his mind would switch off and give him a break, but he knew that he wouldn't be sleeping any time soon tonight, so he picked up the spiral bound notebook Ms. Mitchell had given him and began to write.

Carl woke up the next morning to the smell of breakfast that his father was cooking.

"How do you like your eggs?" His dad had asked.

"Um on a plate." Carl responded so shocked that his dad was cooking breakfast. His dad didn't cook eggs and he certainly never cooked types of eggs. Usually in the mornings he just grabbed a pop tart and ate it on the way to the bus.

"I thought we should try eating at the table again."

"OK."

"It was nice last night eating at the table wasn't it?"

Carl nodded. They sat down and ate breakfast together, and though they didn't talk much there wasn't the usual feeling of tension in the air either. Carl felt like he was sitting down eating breakfast with his dad again and not a stranger.

"I thought we'd go camping this summer just me and you that way Jude will get to bond with grandma and grandpa what do you think?"

"That would be all right."

"Good. I don't want you growing up without me realizing it Carl. I know I've made a lot of mistakes, and there are a lot of wrongs that I can't right but we're going to be all right."

"I know dad." For right now that was the closest thing to I love you either of them were likely to utter.

It had been almost three years now since his mom's death and they were finally getting back to the place where they saw each other and not their own grief. Carl had always thought when people died that you mourned together but, they never discussed his mother's suicide his dad never even said the word both of them just kept their feelings about her to themselves. "Can we go see her?" Carl ask without elaborating he knew his dad would know what he meant.

His dad had looked at him for the longest time fork poised in mid air. "Yeah Carl we can go see her we'll even buy her some flowers." So the three of them had gone to his mother's grave. It had been so long since any of them had been there he'd almost forgotten what it looked like. They brought red geraniums, his mom's favorite, to put on her grave. Judith stood between the two of them not understanding why her brother and father were crying, and after a few minutes looked ready to cry herself until his father lead her away. Carl kneeled on his mother's grave and traced his fingers over her name. He wasn't sure that he believed in heaven, but he hated to think of his mother lying in the cold hard ground. He took a look around to make sure no one was near or his father wasn't coming back before he began to speak. "I miss you mom but I can't keep going on hating you and hating myself. I think maybe dad might have found someone. I don't know if she likes dad yet, but he likes her and so does Jude. I like her too. I don't know why you did what you did, but I don't think you meant to hurt anyone." He couldn't talk anymore everything just felt too raw, as if he'd just picked a healed over scab. Carl stared at his mother's grave wishing that he could hear her voice or just see her one last time.

"You ready to go son?" His father asked squeezing his shoulder.

He stood and sniffed his tears away. "I'm ready."

Carl was late to school, but as he only had gym first period he did not care. His father had to sign his late pass in the student office and they ran into Ms. Mitchell. She didn't give any indication that she'd been over to their house. Nor did she pay Carl any extra attention than she usually did. He had not expected that she would, his dad however was a different story. Carl knew a lot of women in Possum Holler wanted his dad but at times like this he couldn't see why. He kept staring at Ms. Mitchell with his goofy cheese ball grin on his face and rubbing the back of his neck the way he did when he was nervous.

"Oh hi, his dad said with a little wave, I was just dropping Carl off we're running a little late today."

"Well as long as you're not late to my class I won't hold it against you."

"Right, no he'll be on time. He'll definitely be on time."

"I should go I don't want to be late for algebra too." Carl left in a hurry, but when he'd looked back his father was still standing in the student office talking to Ms. Mitchell.

**3**

Rick poured himself a cup of coffee. It tasted like shoe polish and probably had been sitting around for a week and a half, but so long as he didn't have to make it he didn't care. He walked back to his untidy desk and set his coffee mug on a stack of papers. If he never had to do paperwork again it would be too soon, filing endless and meaningless reports was not what he expected he would be doing with most of his time when he'd became a cop. He didn't think he'd be wearing a bullet proof vest and taking out crime lords either, but he at least thought he'd work in a major city. Mostly he was a baby-sitter breaking up petty domestic squabbles. Neighbors fighting over property lines and loud music. Parents at their wits end dealing with their surly teenagers. Married couples who liked to use the police as a cheap form of marriage counseling, but he was too much of a police officer now to become anything else. He'd gone into the police academy right after high school and been working as a police officer ever since. The Possum Holler police department wasn't exactly glamorous or exciting but it's what he knew and it's what payed the bills.

Rick's cell buzzed in his pocket he pulled it out and answered it. "Sheriff Rick Grimes speaking."

"Rick it's Michonne, could you come over to my place please?"

"Michonne what is it?" Rick said feeling a wave of apprehension chase down his spine. It sounded as if she was crying.

"I can't talk about it over the phone, but please hurry!"

"I'll be right there!" Rick put down the phone and hurried out to his cruiser. He floored it to Michonne's house feeling a sickening sense of déjà vu. She had not said she was hurt so he had to believe that she was all right and there was something else that had upset her. He pulled up into her driveway and hurried to her front door. "Michonne its officer Grimes."

Michonne opened the front door so fast that she must have been standing in front of it waiting for him to come. "It's out back on my patio I couldn't stand to bring it in the house. "

Curious Rick followed Michonne to her back yard patio.

"There in that box." She said and ran back in to the house.

Absolutely puzzled Rick bent a down in front of a Tiffany's blue box and peered inside. Rick gasped no wonder Michonne was so upset it was her cat Allegory, or what was left of her was stuffed in the blue box. Allegory's bloody dismembered body was nestled in white tissue paper that was now drenched red. The cat had been decapitated and her head lie next to the pieces of her mutilated body.

"Michonne?" Rick called as he walked back into her house. He didn't see her in the kitchen so he walked into her living room. "Michonne?" He didn't get an answer instead he could hear the sounds of her retching coming from the bathroom. Rick waited politely outside while the toilet flushed followed by the sink running.

"Sorry about that." Michonne said slowly walking out of the bathroom. Her eyes were still rimmed with tears. "There was a card taped to the inside of the box lid, but I didn't touch it.

Rick went back outside and took a pair of vinyl gloves from his pocket and opened up the card. The card was blank but inside of the card was a note typed in all caps. You're next bitch! Rick decided not to show Michonne the card it would only upset her more.

"When did you find this?"

"About fifteen minutes ago when I went outside to look for Alley."

"Don't worry I'm going to find who did this."

"I already know who did it, Nick Hayden he killed my cat."

Rick remembered Nick he was the student that had gotten expelled for plagiarizing an English paper. "I wouldn't doubt it, look I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take your cat's body in for evidence."

"I don't care I can't stand seeing it anymore." Michonne said and burst into fresh tears.

"I promise you I'll get him, and I'll keep watch on your place tonight." Rick called in the incident and another officer came out to take Michonne's statement and remove the cat's body. Rick handed over his report and photos. After the second officer left Michonne curled up in a ball on her couch covered by a blanket and looking very much like a small child.

"Can I get you anything?" Rick asked.

"How could he do that to a defenseless animal? He's mad at me I get it, but why hurt my cat?" Michonne shook her head. "I've had Alley since my junior year in college and now she's gone."

Rick stood there feeling awkward as hell. She had been there for him so many times and now that the tables were turned he couldn't do a damn thing.

"What does it say about our society when so many young people are so unblinkingly violent?"

"I don't know Michonne I wish I could tell you, but I do know as long as I'm around I won't let anything happen to you." Fate, kismet, destiny Rick wasn't sure if he believed in any of that but he was sure that Michonne found her way into his life for a reason. The two of them kept meeting up and that had to mean something. His son and daughter adored her and that had to mean something as well. It meant a lot to him that his children who had been hurting so much like this woman, it made him like her too. He wanted to get to know her as more than just Carl's teacher and that scared him. He hadn't thought about being with a woman since his wife died, but he thought about Michonne a lot.

He thought about the way she made him feel whenever she smiled at him. He thought about the way she looked in those jeans she wore when she came over to dinner. He remembered the way it felt when she'd rolled up his sleeves so that he could wash dishes. Her hands had felt warm, soft and feminine on his skin and that whole night he wanted to find any excuse for her to touch him again. While they were washing the dishes he kept sneaking what he hoped were surreptitious glances at her, but he was pretty sure she knew that he was checking her out. Michonne made him feel like a high school boy with a hopeless crush.

"It's the worst feeling in the world wanting to save young people and know that there are just some you can't reach."

"Remember when you told me I can't keep blaming myself?" Rick asked. "Well the same applies to you, you can't keep blaming yourself. You're not responsible for every kid in the world Michonne."

"That's the weird thing I don't even want to save Nick I just don't want any of this. I just wish there was somewhere I could go where violence couldn't reach me."

"It won't, not here. Now sit tight and I'll make you a cup of tea."

"You don't have to."

Rick searched Michonne's kitchen until he found a box of chamomile tea and a dainty tea cup with roses on it. He filled up her copper kettle and set it on her stove to boil.

"Don't you have to get back to work?"

Rick spun around. "You scared me." He said to Michonne who he had not heard come into the kitchen.

"Sorry I just thought I'd help you with the tea." As if on cue the kettle whistled and Michonne got down a second tea cup and poured tea for the both of them.

"I am doing my work, Rick replied, I told you I'm going to keep you safe and I meant it. You mean too much to me and my children for me to let anything happen to you."


	5. Chapter 5 The Beginning of the end

**5\. The Beginning of the end**

**1**

Michonne woke up covered in sweat and tangled in sheets, her stomach was knotted, a wave a nausea rolled over her, she almost screamed out loud before she remembered she was having a nightmare. The hardest part about nightmares she thought, was convincing yourself that they weren't real. She rubbed her face with trembling hands and took a few deep breaths to will her racing heart back to it's normal pace. She could not have a panic attack, not in Rick's house, she did not want him to see her that way.

After Michonne called Rick over about Alley he stayed with her for most of the day. Rick had helped her pack up all of Allegory's things and took them to the local thrift store for her. He checked every square inch of her house inside and out, and over apple pie listened to her ramble on incessantly about Allegory. Not once had he rolled his eyes while she talked about her cat. She was pretty sure Rick would have stayed eating pie with her all day if she hadn't pushed him to go back to work.

"You getting sick of me?"

"No, I don't want you getting fired because of me."

"I won't get fired I'm the sheriff."

"You've stayed with me long enough, I'll be fine." Michonne lied.

"Don't try to tough it out on your own, stay with me this weekend, you should be surrounded by people who care about you. "

"What about Carl? I'm his teacher all of this could get pretty awkward."

"I'll explain to him what's happened he'll understand. I know you're his teacher, but you're still human and that should come first."

"OK." Michonne said. Staying over at Rick's house for a weekend seemed like a bad idea, but staying in her house by herself seemed even worse.

"I'll drop you off at my house on my way back to work, but don't worry you won't be alone Carl and Judith will be there to keep you company."

Michonne packed a small suitcase of all the things she would need, but it felt odd not having to worry about Allegory. The only reminder she had of her cat were pictures and her collar.

Rick drove Michonne back to his house and called Carl on the way explaining the situation to him. When his cruiser pulled into the driveway neither of them got out of the car.

"I'm glad you decided to stay, I just realized there's only one week of school left, and when summer vacation starts I won't have an excuse to come see you." He looked up at her through his eyelashes and Michonne wondered if Rick was always this shy or just around her?

"You don't need an excuse."

"Does that mean I can take you out to dinner?" Rick leaned over and unfastened her seat belt.

Michonne looked down at Rick's hands, if she looked up she'd be looking into his eyes, and if she looked into his eyes she would kiss him, but it wasn't only Rick she had to think about.

"You never said if I could take you out to dinner."

"I'd like that."

Rick unbuckled his seat belt and Michonne felt him move closer. She was still looking at Rick's hands noticing that he wasn't wearing his wedding ring, he must have just recently removed it though, because the skin was still pale where the ring had once been.

"Michonne?"

"Yes?" She looked up into his eyes damming herself, if he kissed her now he would send her too far down the rabbit hole to stop any feelings she had for him.

Rick leaned over and nudged her lips with his, parting Michonne's mouth, his warm mouth still tasted like the sweet remnant of apple pie they'd been eating earlier. His mouth completely captured hers working it open so that he could kiss her even deeper. Michonne felt herself melting.

The windows of the cruiser fogged up as they made out Michonne's fingers curled into his hair ,she let out a soft moan as the weight of his body pressed her into the door ,and she'd thought she'd die from the feeling of Rick's hard chest pressing into her's. Rick's kisses were slow, soft and lingering. He took his time as if he wanted to remember the exact shape and feel of her mouth. Michonne's arm trailed down from Rick's hair to his forearm holding on to it as leverage to lean up and kiss him harder. In that small space and being that close it felt timeless, like a million years could pass and they'd still be kissing. Rick's hand stroked the side of her face and then trailed through her locs. He pulled on the end playfully and she gave his lip a nip.

Rick broke their kiss and gave her an amorous look over. "I shouldn't have done that, but I've wanted to for a while now."

"Why shouldn't you have?"

"It was even better than I thought it would be"

Rick had thought about kissing her. Too far down the rabbit hole indeed.

"We'd better get inside."

Michonne nodded the feeling of Rick's kisses still lingering on her lips. She wanted to follow Rick to his room and take off his clothes, she spent so much time checking him out in his uniform she knew he wouldn't disappoint, but there was a whole set of extenuating circumstances that needed to be addressed before sex. Rick was a widower, and she was Carl's teacher.

Rick carried Michonne's suitcase into the guest bedroom for her. Michonne sat down on the four-poster bed and smoothed out an invisible wrinkle on the patchwork quilt.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm wasn't expecting you to kiss me."

"I'm sorry."

"I not upset, I'm just surprised."

"I didn't know that I was going to kiss you either, it's been so long since I could even think about kissing someone."

"Are you OK?"

"I don't know, I'm an older widower with two kids trying to get with a beautiful woman half my age."

"I'm not half your age."

"Feels like it, I've got baggage Michonne."

"I've got baggage too Rick, everyone does."

"I don't want to ruin what we have, I mean what are the odds of finding a woman who not only likes me, but likes my children as well?"

"If you want to take things slow I understand, in fact I think we should take things slow."

Rick tilted Michonne's chin upward and dropped a slow deep kiss on her lips. "Slow it is."

* * *

There was a knock on the door. "Michonne are you decent?"

Michonne got out of bed pulled on her robe. "Come in."

"Hi, did you sleep well?" Rick asked.

"Yes." She lied.

"I made coffee if you'd like some."

"Thanks, just let me get showered and dressed and I'll meet you in the kitchen"

After her shower Michonne joined Rick in the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"I can't let you cook you're my guest."

"Why don't we both cook then?"

"Well all right." Rick said and slipped his _He who cooks is king_, apron over Michonne's head and tied it around her waist. "It looks cuter on you."

Rick was close enough that Michonne could smell his cologne, Acqua di Gio. He smelled so damn good Michonne wanted to bury her face in his chest and sniff him, but instead she asked. "Does this mean I'm the king?"

"I believe it does."

"Well as your king I'm ordering you to start frying up the bacon."

"Yes your majesty."

Michonne found out where the frying pans were kept and put one on the stove top. "Do you like Spanish omelettes?"

"Si."

Michonne laughed. "You're pretty damn cute sometimes."

Rick blushed.

"Mimi!"

Michonne spun around in the middle of whisking eggs. Carl and Judith had come into the kitchen both were still in their pajamas.

"Hi there Judith."

The two-year old toddled over to Michonne, and she bent down to Judith's height and gave her a hug.

"We play zoo in my room Mimi."

Rick laughed. "Let her eat first Jude."

"Hey Ms. Mitchell." Carl said looking at Michonne as if she didn't quite belong.

She couldn't blame him it must be off putting to have your teacher sleeping in your house. It would be like having the superintendent sleeping over at her house.

"I'm sorry about your cat."

"Thank you."

"Do you think maybe Nick Hayden killed your cat? He killed a turtle in science lab in eighth grade."

"Carl." Rick warned.

"Well he did! He just took his head and-"

"Talk about something else Carl."

Michonne plucked three oranges from the fruit bowl on the counter and began to juggle. Misdirection was a good way to stop an impending argument.

Judith laughed and clapped. "Again Mimi again!"

Michonne took up Judith's request and juggled one more time.

"Where did you learn how to juggle?" Rick asked.

"I used to work at one of those medieval restaurant as a serving wench, and I was dating one of the court jesters, he taught me how to juggle."

"Sounds cool" Carl said.

"It wasn't but it helped pay for college, but once they learned I could speak Shakespearean and fence they gave me a broadsword, and promoted me to knight."

"Did you joust?"

"No I just acted in staged sword fights."

"Maybe you'll show me sometime." Rick said.

"If you're lucky."

**2**

Rick looked at himself in the mirror before he started his morning shave. He hoped that he didn't appear as old as he felt to Michonne. It had been a long time since he was as attracted to a woman as he was to Michonne. This summer would be the third year anniversary of Lori's death, three years both felt too long and not long enough. Rick did not want his feelings for Michonne do be developed as they were, or least the part of him that missed Lori and still felt guilty over her death didn't, but the rest of him, the bigger part of him wanted to get to know Michonne. He was sure she wanted to get to know him too, or else she wouldn't have kissed him, and what a kiss it had been. Rick wondered what Michonne saw when she looked at him. Did she see an attractive man? Or did she just see an old tired white cop ten years her senior?

When he looked at Michonne he saw someone young, vivacious, and beautiful. He saw a woman so selfless that she was willing to risk her life for her students. Rick had remembered watching CNN coverage about the school shooting, Michonne's name had been among the name of teacher's that had stayed inside the school to protect their students. Rick had been amazed the lengths she'd gone through for her students, and last night he had kissed her.

Even when Rick was sixteen years old he didn't make out in his car with girls. The girls at his school had always liked Rick, but he felt too gangly, goofy and too shy to ask girls out. His best friend Shane Walsh had gotten all the girls.

"You gotta loosen up man, no chick wants to date Julius Kelp." Shane had always said. It was easy for someone like Shane to say that, Shane was handsome, athletically gifted, and always knew the right thing to say. Rick had played on the baseball team with Shane, and while Rick was good Shane was a phenomenon, and everyone was sure he'd turn pro, but he chosen the police academy instead, and convinced Rick to join him. Now Shane was a homicide detective in Atlanta with no shortage of female friends.

Rick thought about Shane's advice. He needed to loosen up with Michonne the trouble was he got nervous around her and it made him shy, but she seemed to like that. He liked that she was not like the other women in town who only seem to want to date him for the status it would give them. In Possum Holler ,where everyone liked to keep up their white picket fence illusions, marrying the right kind of man meant everything to these women. Michonne was able to see past him being a sheriff, a father, and a widower, and see him. Rick finished shaving and washed his face. He gave him self one last glance in the mirror. Perhaps he didn't look that old after all and suddenly he didn't feel so tired.

"I got some good news." Rick said as he entered the kitchen.

Michonne looked up from the picture she was drawing with Judith.

"We caught Nick, the little shit was using a katana to chop up your fence, Rick sighed, the katana is what he used to kill your cat. We thought it might be the weapon he used to umh assault your cat so we had it tested"

"So I guess criminals really do return to the scene of the crime hun?"

"The really dumb ones do."

"That's a relief of some sort, so what's going to happen to Nick?"

"Well he's been charged with menacing and aggravated cruelty."

"Do you think he'll actually do any time?"

"He's in jail now and will be going to court where they'll try him as an adult. Plus there's the note"

"Note what note?" Michonne narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I didn't want to tell you that day I thought it might upset you, but that note Nick left said you're next bitch."

"What!"

"I know I should have told you I just-I'm really sorry."

"No, it's all right I know you were just trying to look out for me."

"So what are the two of you drawing?" Rick ask coming over to the table to have a look.

Judith had drawn a picture of him, Carl and Michonne at the zoo, next to going to the park, going to the zoo was her favorite thing to do.

"I draw you daddy."

"I see, you even drew my hat."

Rick poured himself a bowl of Cheerios , sliced a banana into it, and then turned on the TV and sat at the table with Michonne and Judith. The morning news program that was on was interrupted by breaking news.

"We can now confirm there is one confirmed case of the Cadere virus in Albany, we are getting reports that there maybe several more cases of the Cadere virus, but those reports are unconfirmed at this time, however I would like to repeat that there is at least one confirmed case of the Cadere virus in Albany. The virus, which is believed to be passed though saliva, causes rapid decomposition in it's victims and is highly contagious. Little else is known about the Cadere virus at this time"

"Albany that's closer than I'd like it to be." Rick said.

"What would we do if that virus reached here?" Michonne asked. "Is this town even prepared to handle any sort of disaster, natural or otherwise?"

"Well I've been trained for what to do in case of a tornado, flood, fire or mass evacuation due to any of those three things, but a pandemic not so much."

"Maybe I should head to Atlanta with you this summer Rick, and you could drop me off at the CDC along the way."

"We could all go and pick up some Hazmat suits , Rick said, you think they have toddler sized ones for Jude?"

The news continued and the reporters voice suddenly became solemn as they announced that the confirmed case was now a confirmed death.

**3**

Carl was looking outside of his living room window, waiting for Roy Wayne Paul to show up when a police cruiser pulled up outside of his house. He figured his dad was probably sending a patrol by to check on everyone, especially Michonne. When he saw his dad's old partner, officer Gary Stevenson , get out of his cruiser and walk up to his door his heart fell to his feet. He knew from the way officer Stevenson walked, and from the look on his face that something had happened to his father, something bad. Something very bad. Carl ran to his front door and wrenched it open before officer Stevenson even had time to knock.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen to my dad?" Carl cried

Officer Stevenson reached for Carl "I think we should go inside"

Carl backed out of his reach. He did not wanted to be comforted he wanted the truth. "No tell me now!'

"I'm sorry, but he's been shoot son."

In that moment everything stopped, he felt like his heart and lungs stopped too. He didn't want Gary to say anything else, he did not want to hear that his father was dead, he wasn't strong enough live through another death. "Is my dad- is he dead?" Just saying the word made Carl's whole body go weak, and his knees gave in and he dropped to the ground, gripping the grass to keep himself from falling on his face.

"He's not dead Carl he's been shot, and they had to fly him over to a trauma center in Atlanta.

Carl looked up feeling dizzy and nauseous. His father wasn't dead. "Is h-he all right?"

"It's pretty serious Carl I'm not going to lie to you."

Carl was still kneeling in the grass, when office Stevenson helped him to his feet, as he stood up felt numb like he wasn't in his body and none of this was happening to him. The day did not even feel real to him anymore. He didn't know how he was going to be able to be able to make it though if his father died he didn't think he could.

Carl didn't even notice the surrounding of his own home he still felt like he was in the middle of a living nightmare.

"Carl is that you?" Michonne called. She came down the hallway holding his sister and stopped short when she saw Officer Stevenson.

"Ms. Mitchell is it?" Officer Stevenson asked.

Michonne nodded. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that Rick's been shot."

"Oh my god! Is he all right?"

"I don't have all the details, but he's been flown to Atlanta."

"What do I need to do?" Michonne asked.

"Why don't we talk about that in the kitchen. Carl why don't you take your sister."

Carl watched the two of them go. He wanted to follow them, he knew that Officer Stevenson was telling Ms. Mitchell what condition his father was really in. He wouldn't tell Carl because he thought he was too young and too fragile. It wasn't fair it was _his_ father. He had a right to know more than his English teacher did. He sat on the couch with his sister what if the only things she ever knew about either of their parents were the things he could tell her? How would she feel only having to see their parents through pictures? He was already trying to remember every single detail he could about his mother so that he could tell Jude one day. If his dad died would he be strong enough to tell his sister about him too? Or would the memories be too painful to hold to?

When Ms. Mitchell came out of the kitchen she was hugging her arms around herself, Carl could tell that she'd been crying but tried to fix her face so that he wouldn't notice. He remembered that she had been shot too, and wonder if she was going to be OK.

"So there are a few things I need to take care of first, but after I'll dive you and your sister down to Atlanta to see your father."

"What about Officer Stevenson?"

"He left already, he was on duty but wanted to be one who broke the news. He said that he and Rick went way back"

Carl was glad Ms. Mitchell was there, she took over all the things he would have never thought to do in a thousand years, while he sat with his sister. Judith had no ideal what was happening with their father, and Carl didn't plan on telling her she wouldn't understand even if he did. He couldn't even wrap his head around it not really. He knew people got murdered, but it was hard to believe that someone had pointed a gun at his dad knowing they might kill him, and pulled the trigger anyway. His mother had killed herself and someone tried to kill his father.

"I packed a bag for you and your sister Carl but you might want to go through them both and make sure I didn't leave anything out." Ms. Mitchell said. "I've canceled your paper, and your neighbor Mrs. Ferguson will be getting your mail for you, I'm not sure how long your dad will be in the hospital."

Carl nodded and then his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Carl it's Shane, how are you doing?"

"Not so good."

"Well don't worry, I was down at the hospital with yo daddy."

"How is he doing?"

"He got shot the chest, mighta hit a lung or something cuz they got him on ventilators."

"You don't think he's going to die do you?"

"Rick? Hell no they don't make em like yo daddy any more."

"I hope so."

"I know so, listen is Ms. Mitchell there? I need to talk to her."

"How do you know her?"

"I don't. Rick, when he could talk, told the cops and nurses that she was your baby-sitter, he wants her to bring ya'll down here"

"Why?"

"Yer grandparents are stuck over at Charlotte Douglas, and Lori's parents won't be getting home anytime soon, the CDC suspended all flights in and out of Atlanta, cuz of sum kinda emergency situation down in Albany, So yo daddy wants Michonne to watch ya'll while he's in the hospital. Guess Rick forgot I'm yo godfather.

"Oh." Carl said and handed Ms. Mitchell the phone. Judith squirmed in Carl's arms but he didn't put her down he wanted to keep his sister close by for now. He hugged her tight. Carl wasn't sure if God existed or not, but he decided to pray any way because it couldn't hurt, and maybe God would even show his family a little mercy.

"Change of plans Carl." Michonne said and handed Carl back his phone.

"What's going on?"

"Gary headed off to Atlanta , and Shane is driving here to get us, actually he's more than already halfway here. He said we could stay with him while your dad is in the hospital."

"Good."

"Good, so this Shane is a nice guy?"

"Yeah Shane is cool, he was like my dad's best friend in school, but now he's a homicide detective in Atlanta. When my parents would spend their anniversaries in Branson I would stay with Shane."

"That sounds nice"

"He says my dad is going to be OK."

"He's probably right he's a homicide detective he's seen a lot of gunshots in his time."

Carl wished that he could have as much faith as Shane and Ms. Mitchell, but he'd grown a lot more cynical since his mother had died. Once something devastated your life it was a free for all for every other kind of shit storm to rain down upon you.

Michonne was still walking around the house checking on things when Shane arrived. He gave Carl a huge hug as soon as he saw him.

"He's gonna pull through because you and yo sister are the most important things in the world to him." Shane said when he released him from the hug.

"Will they let me see him when I get there?"

"Don't know, but I'll try pullin some strings if they don't."

The sound of Shane's voice brought Ms. Mitchell into the living room.

"Hi you must be Shane, I'm Michonne Mitchell, Carl's English teacher."

"Well hello there." Shane said giving Michonne a wide grin. "Nice to finally meet you."

" Nice to meet you too. I've got a few more things to wrap up, Carl why don't you start taking things out to Shane's car I'm sure he'd like to get on the road soon."

"She seems to have things in control." Shane said once Ms. Mitchell left the room.

" Yeah she helps dad out a lot."

"Is that right?"

"Dad likes her, I mean he _likes_ her _likes_ her."

"How do you feel about it?"

"It's cool I guess I just never thought about them actually dating and stuff."

"Just another thing for Rick to get well for. I'm telling you give him a few days he'll be right as rain."

Michonne came back into the room. "Well everything that could be taken care of is taken care of."

"Let's hit the road then." Shane said.

Carl ran to the car. They couldn't drive to Atlanta fast enough. He was terrified of his father dying before they could even reach Atlanta. He wished that he could have flown in the helicopter with his dad. He needed to see his father, he wanted to tell him all of the things that he wished he could have said to his mother. Just in case he never got the chance again.


	6. Chapter 6 Remember Death

**1\. R**emember Death

Trauma one we're arriving with a 37-year-old police officer suffering a open pneumothorax from a 9mm GSW to the chest. Heart rate is 120, respiratory rate is 40, and blood pressure is 90 over 60.

The Calhoun's ,Jessie Lynn and Travis Lee, were well known to the Possum Holler police department. The neighbors called the police on them at least once a week. The morning Rick got shot, they were arguing in an alley behind Gold's Pharmacy. Rick had gone inside the pharmacy to use the bathroom and get a bottle of water, and upon coming out he'd seen the couple screaming in the alley, and it didn't take long for their verbal screaming match to turn into a physical one.

Travis Lee had grown sick of trying to use words and reasoning with his wife, so instead he decided to solve things with his hands. He began choking his wife. Jessie Lynn scratched at his face to stop him, but it was like he didn't even feel it.

"Let her go Travis." Rick said calmly as he made his way over toward the young man. "I know that you really don't want to hurt her." He knew that Travis Lee had a hair-trigger temper, and as long as Jessie Lynn was still in danger he didn't want to set him off.

"Fuck you!" Travis Lee yelled and shoved his wife to the ground. He reached down into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a gun.

Rick did not remember getting shot, just the split second before the gun went off, and then there was a bang like a firecracker going off in is head, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground. Everything that happened directly afterwards was very vivid like he was watching his life happening in slow motion. His ears were ringing. He could hear people screaming. A car, probably Travis Lee's, had peeled out of the parking lot. Someone kept shouting his name. The ambulance's siren was distantly wailing its way towards him.

"Just stay with us Rick help is on the way." A voice called to him. The disembodied voice sounded as if it were standing over a hole and shouting down to him.

Rick's whole body was burning like lava. He grabbed at his chest where the majority of the pain was coming from and felt something wet and sticky. When he pulled his hand away from his chest it was covered in blood. His blood. That's when he began to panic, the insane reality that he'd been shot just sank in. and he had blacked out.

When Rick came to a face was peering down at him. "My name is Mary, I'm a flight medic, and I'm going to take care of you."

"Wher-"

"You're in a helicopter, Possum Holler doesn't have a trauma center so were flying you into Atlanta."

Helicopter? Trauma center? Oh god I'm dying Rick thought. Something that felt like many cold hands was pulling him down. Pulling him towards a rich rolling blackness that enveloped him so that the outside world cease to exist. There was just the rolling darkness that had swallowed him up . He felt weak and cold, but at least he wasn't feeling pain anymore. More than anything he wanted to fall into the emptiness of the dark space he was in, maybe Lori was there as well, and they could be together again. Then Carl and Judith's faces flashed before his eyes, and every single detail of their faces was so exact that it was if they were in the Helicopter with him. Rick's eyes flew open, if he wanted to see his children again he knew he had to fight.

"That's right sweetie fight! You come back to us." The flight medic said.

"My kids ." Rick wheezed.

"Sssh sweetie I'm sure your kids are being well taken care of."

"I want Michonne take my kids." Rick persisted before he had to give into his injury and leave his life in the hands of total strangers.

The helicopter descended on to the hospital's helipad, and Rick's stretcher was lifted out of the helicopter, his hair and clothes rippled in the breeze the helicopter was creating. Rick had always hated hospitals, and he hated doctors even more, but as a team of doctors came out to meet Rick it was suddenly one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen.

"You're a very lucky man Rick." said Dr. Nickles the surgeon who'd overseen his operation. "There was a nurse at the scene of your shooting. She treated you before the EMT's could arrive, and if she hadn't you might not be here."

"What happened?"

"You came in with an open pneumothorax, that's just a dressed up word for sucking chest wound."

Rick winced.

"After a pericardiocentesis, We took you directly to the OR found the bullet and repaired the damaged it caused."

"My children where are they?"Rick noticed his voice sounded deep and gravelly to his ears, like he'd just got done smoking hundreds of packs of cigarettes.

"On their way here. You're friend Shane is driving them to Atlanta."

Rick brightened up. "Shane was here?"

"Yeah he told us you two grew up together."

"We did, and we joined the police academy together. He's my children's godfather."

"He told us."

"Did you get a hold of Michonne? She's staying with my children."

"Yes she's coming here with your children.

Now that he knew his children and Michonne were OK, he decided to ask about his voice. "What's wrong with my throat?"

"Does it hurt?" Dr. Nickles asked.

Rick nodded.

"You were intubated and the ET tube often irritates, but you should get your voice back with in a couple of days." After checking Rick's vitals and explaining his prognosis Dr. Nickles left. Rick turned on the TV, but he couldn't shake that unnerving feeling that he had almost died. Dying was one of those things that you knew what it was once it was happening to you. Rick now knew that you could exist in a place that was frighteningly in between life and death. Rick wondered where he would have gone if he decided not to fight? Was there a heaven or a hell ? Or did you only get one chance?

What would happen to Carl and Judith if he had died? He and Lori head left their children with Shane, but could Shane really take care of two kids? Perhaps not, but one thing he knew he didn't want Carl living with his father. Rick's father lived by two rules. Spare the rod spoil the child, and Early to bed and early to rise. He'd take Carl back to his horse farm in Kentucky and work him sun up til sun down on the farm, because hard labor is what made a man a man. Judith would be married and pregnant even before she graduated high school if she went to live with his father.

Lori's parents would not have the time. Children would impede their jet-setting life style. Now that they were both retired Lori's parents spent their time going on cruises. It was a life style they had long grown accustom to, they would not change their life even for Lori's children. Lori's parents had never thought Rick was good enough. Lori's parents blamed Rick for their daughter's death, and he could hardly fault them when he still blamed himself.

"You can't keep beating yourself up or thinking what if. You'll never be able to move forward if you don't and that's not healthy for you or your children."

That's what Michonne had told him. It was perfect advice but it was not easy to follow. He knew that like him Michonne was blaming herself, but Michonne was blaming herself or circumstances that were beyond her control. Rick would never fully be able to convince himself that he couldn't have prevented Lori's death some how, but even so Michonne was right. She was not only right, but she was here right now with him and his children just like a family.

2

Normally Carl was excited whenever he went into the city. There was so much to see and do in Atlanta, but today he didn't notice the city as it rushed by him on the way to the hospital. The thoughts in his head canceled out all the other noise around him. He just stared ahead trying to breathe as normally as possible, but his chest felt like it was constricting. Shane had the air on in the car, but it still felt too hot, the air too stale.

"Carl are you all right?" Ms. Mitchell asked Her eyebrows were knitted with concern. All he could think of was his father lying on a hospital bed with a bullet in him.

"Carl?"

"Just leave him alone." He heard Shane say to Ms. Mitchell

His mother's funeral had been on a sunny day. Most of Possum Holler had shown up for it. Carl wished that it could have just been family. It seemed a hollow gesture to him, for them to show up. He still felt bitterness towards the town for talking about his mother behind her back and after her death.

That bitterness had stayed with him until he saw his mom's mother. She was crying so had that his grandfather and father had to hold her up. Then others at the funeral were crying real tears. His dad grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

When they got home after the funeral the house felt so wrong. It didn't look the same either. Carl realized that his mother's love for them all had made their house a home, but she was gone forever, and he would never have that kind of love again.

Carl did not want to sleep in his room by himself, his mother always kissed him good night, but tonight was the first time she wouldn't. When he was younger Carl had argued that he was too old for good night kisses, but the night of the funeral, he couldn't sleep in his bed knowing he wouldn't receive one. He even thought of sleeping on the floor in Jude's room. In the end he ended up sleeping in the living room with his father and Jude. The three of them had camped out and watched movies all night long.

Carl lifted his face into the sun and let it burn him and that memory for a moment.

"Here we are." Shane said pulling up to the hospital. He found a parking space, and once he'd parked took Judith for her car seat.

Carl got out of the car and his knees still felt weak, so he leaned of the car door for a moment to steady himself. He tried not to look at the ambulances, he hated them.

Ms. Mitchell took his hand and Carl didn't pull away, and that's how they entered the hospital. Carl knew he was squeezing Ms. Mitchell's hand too tight, but he felt like he was going to pass out and vomit. If Ms. Mitchell let go of his hand he would run, he would run right out of the hospital, down the street, and keep on running until he could get away from this all. Perhaps she knew and that's why she was holding his hand. He was convinced that his father was going to die.

Shane talked to the nurse at the admittance desk who explained that his father was still in surgery, and then gave them face mask to wear even Jude. It was a new hospital procedure issued by the CDC. Jude did not want to wear her face mask and cried every time Carl put in on her, until he drew a cat nose and whiskers on it and made kitty ears from post-it notes for Jude to stick on her headband. Both Ms. Mitchell and the nurse looked at Carl as if he' was the second coming.

"Come with me." The nurse said still smiling at Carl, and ushered them into a private room to wait.

laid a blanket on the floor and played with Judith while Shane paced back and forth.

"I'm gonna go find out bout this shootin, strong-arm em if they don't give me the answers I want."

"He won't do anything crazy will he?" Michonne asked as she stared at his retreating back.

"No he'll just intimidate them. He's good at making people talk. When I was younger and I did something really bad, my mom would call Shane over to get me to confess."

Not more than twenty minutes had passed before Shane came back into their waiting room with a smug grin stretched across his face. "Flashed my badge and got em to talk." He smiled at Carl. "They're gonna let you see yo daddy."

"Thanks Shane."

"No problem."

"Well now that all of that's taken care of why don't we go get some lunch." Ms. Mitchell said.

Carl didn't feel much like eating, but he figured that Shane and Ms. Mitchell would be easier to deal with if he ate something. Shane payed for the food and their little group found a table by one of the TV's showing cartoons. Ms. Mitchell strapped Jude in her high chair and cut up her food for her.

"Yer real good with her." Shane noted.

"Thank you. My first job was teaching at a pre-school, and then I taught kindergarten, I really love working with Judith's age group, not that I don't love teaching teenagers as well."

"I wouldn't, shit I was hell on wheels growing up, I'm still apologizing to mah daddy fer mah teenaged years." Shane said.

"What about my dad?" Carl asked. "What was he like?"

"Let me tell you something yer father was one wild goofy sum of a bitch. Did I ever tell you his nickname at the police academy?" Shane asked. "Yo daddy was skinnier back then than he is now. The smallest academy issued sweats was big on him, Shane grinned, everyone called him dumpy cuz his sweats were so big he always looked like he took a dump in em."

"I never knew that." Carl snickered.

"Course you didn't, you think yo daddy really wants you ta know he useta be called dumpy? First time doin the obstacle course Rick got to the wall, an his sweats fell down around his ankles, but Rick just kicked them off underwear and all , then finished the obstacle near the top of the class."

Carl burst out laughing, but at the same time the thought of his dad's pale ass hanging out disturbed him.

"Once he broke out in the middle of the night and got us all chilli dogs and fries from this diner we were all crazy about." That's how they passed the time waiting for the surgery to be over. Shane had a million stories to tell about his dad, about the police academy, and about when his parents dated. Carl loved every one of those stories. Shane made his father seem like a human, he couldn't believe some of the things that his dad had done! He'd stolen his father's motorcycle and ridden it cross country, or once his dad and Shane had smoked weed they'd taken from the evidence room. His father jumped on him for everything, but he'd never done half of the things his father did. As they walked back to the waiting room Carl wondered why parents felt the need to act perfect, rather than just admit they made mistakes. A question like that hardly seem to matter now, given the choice between a flawed father or no father at all.

By the time his father's surgery had finished, and he got out of post-op, Judith had fallen asleep. Ms. Mitchell made her a bed on the chairs. That made Carl happy, because as much as he loved his little sister, he wasn't in the right frame of mind to look after her. Since Judith was so young she wasn't allowed in their father's room so Ms. Mitchell and Shane stayed behind to look after Jude, and give him time alone with his father..

Carl was both relieved and frightened when he saw his father. Relieved because he was alive, but frightened by all the tubes and machines that surrounded him. He had never seen his father sick, let alone in the hospital. His father seemed so vulnerable and the machines seemed to be an ugly reminder that he could still die.

"I"m OK Carl, come here." His father said and Carl went over to his bed. His voice sounded about two octaves lower than what he was used to hearing. His father hugged him gingerly, and Carl leaned into the hug. He was afraid if he hugged his father back, he might hurt him or pull out a wire. "I don't recommend getting shot it hurts like hell."

Carl gave a shaky laugh. "Are you in pain now?" He felt absurd talking to his father through a mask.

"They've got me on drugs so the pain is kind of hazy."

Carl sat in the chair that had been placed next to his dad's bed. "Who shot you?"

"It doesn't matter"

"It does matter! That fucking asshole almost killed you!"

"Carl!"

Carl leaned forward in his seat. "They shot you dad! You could have died!" Carl felt his last ounce of resolve evaporate and he started crying. He hated the sound of his tears. They sounded stupid and childish to him. Sometimes he felt so old, but whenever anything real happened to him he felt like a child again. He was older but he still had no real power in the world.

"You're right he could have killed me, his dad said closing his eyes and sounding suddenly tired, but he didn't. I survived and that's all that matters right now. I not going to live forever Carl, but I promise you I'll do whatever it takes to stay around as long as I can. I love you"

"I was scared." Carl admitted. "I was so scared."

"I was too, but I saw your face and I saw Judith's face and I knew I couldn't give up." His father cupped the back of his head. Where''s Judith?"

"They wouldn't let her come to see you because of that Cadere virus or whatever, that's why I have this face mask on."

"Really? I thought it was the new style."

Carl usually found his dad's humor corny as hell, but today he was just glad that his dad was around to make corny jokes.

"Everyone is wearing face masks it's weird."

"Things will be back to normal soon enough, how is Jude holding up?"

"Good, Ms. Mitchell has been looking after her, Shane's mostly been trying to find out about the shooting"

"Michonne's here?"

"Yeah, Shane drove us all down here. I think they told you , but you probably forgot."

"I don't remember much." His father admitted and then closed his eyes again.

"Dad?" Carl called but there was no sound from him. "Dad?" Carl called again in alarm, and rose quickly out of his seat. His father's eyes were shut and his mouth slack, Carl couldn't see his chest rising or falling. He started for the door ready to grab the nearest nurse, but then he heard his father snoring and sighed in relief.

Carl could not tell his dad how since his mother had died that he worried about him dying all the time. He couldn't tell his father how he listened to the police scanner all night just in case, or how he had picked out outfits for him and Judith to wear to his funeral. His father would think he was crazy, at times Carl was convinced he was and he didn't want it confirmed by anyone else.

"How is he?" Ms. Mitchell asked Carl as soon as he came back into the room.

"He's sleeping but he seems OK."

"Good, Shane said, now listen me an Michonne was talkin while you was gone an' ya'll are gonna have to stay here in Atlanta fer awhile, but I can't look after you and yer sister cuz I gotta work, so Michonne is gonna stay down here an' look after ya until ya'll can go back home."

"What about your job Ms. Mitchell?"

"I've worked it out, since it was the last week of school they were understanding. Later on Shane is going to drive us back to Possum Holler so we can get more of our belongings."

Shane clapped Carl on the back and nearly knocked him down. "The time will fly by you'll see." Shane said. "Tomorrow I'll take ya'll to the aquarium."

Shane's house was in a recently built suburb. Each house was huge with manicured lawns and huge two car garages. All of Shane's furniture had a sleek modern look to it, and all of his appliances and electronics were state of the art. His own home was half the size of Shane's and nothing they owned whether it was an appliance or something electronic was new, but he missed his home all the same.

"C'mon I show ya'll to yer rooms." Shane said.

Carl's room was red and black and decorated in Atlanta Falcon's gear. He didn't even bother to take off his clothes or brush his teeth, he just kicked off his shoes and crawled under the sheets. He took his cell phone from his pocket, his voice mail box was full, and he had more text then he cared to think about right now. He knew his friends were worried about him, but they would have to wait, sleep came first.

His summer was not going as planned, but in the grand scheme of things he was just glad that his father was alive. He was glad that he had decided to stop being angry at his father. If his father had died and he was still angry at him what good would that have done? He still would have had his anger, but he wouldn't have had his mother or his father. He wouldn't of have had a father that loved him and his sister so much that he risked his life everyday just to provide for them.

3

Michonne stood quietly in the doorway of Rick's hospital room. It took her a couple of minutes, but finally she worked up the courage to walk softly to his bedside. He looked pale and drugged, but his glassy eyes focused on her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked struggling not to burst into tears at the sight of him lying there looking so helpless.

"Like I got shot." He said

"Rick I'm so sorry." Michonne said. She had been here before so many times. Standing at the bedside of Co-workers and students all in various forms of recovery. All of it felt awfully overwhelming, the sounds, the smells, the feeling of death that lingered in hospitals. She hated all of it, but for Rick she would endure.

"I'm OK don't cry."

"Oh Rick."

Rick reached up and wiped Michonne's tears away. "I'm not going anywhere."

Michonne sniffed away her tears. "I brought you some things from your house. Clean clothes, toiletries, and a book from your nightstand, you had a bookmark in it, so I thought you'd been reading it."

"I was. Thank you Michonne for everything. Carl told me how you've been taking care of Jude."

"She's a sweet as she can be." Michonne said. "I don't know what to tell her when she asks for you."

"Being persistent is she? Well she gets it from Lori, but don't worry tomorrow I'm changing rooms and Jude will be able to visit then."

"For as long as you need to be here I'm staying." Michonne said. "I've already worked it out with the school and Shane."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but whatever it was I'm thankful for."

Michonne held Rick's hand and squeezed it. "We've gotten off to a very rough start haven't we?"

"Yet here you are, and that's all that matters."

"Of course I'm here Rick."

"Michonne, can I ask you something serious?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Di-did your life flash before your eyes?" Rick asked. "Sorry to ask it's just I-

"I don't know if it flashed before my eyes, but everything slowed down and it was like I had time to think about every little minute detail of my life."

"I think I almost died, but then I saw my children,and I don't know I came back."

"It changes you." Michonne said. "Facing your mortality changes you. It's like you've opened a door into a room you were never supposed to see."

"I just wish I could stop thinking about it, now I know what they mean when they say close to death."

"There will come a time when you don't really think about it at all." Michonne said.

"Really, when is that?"

Michonne shivered. She still didn't know. "Shane wanted to see you. I shouldn't take up all of your time, but Rick I'm so glad you're all right." She got up from her chair and bent down to give Rick a soft kiss on the lips.

While Shane visited with Rick Michonne took Carl and Judith to the cafeteria both of them had healthy appetites but Michonne could hardly eat her food, her stomach was too upset. She felt like she couldn't sit still and everything was closing in on her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. There were no guns here. Rick would be OK. Everyone was OK. Everyone was safe. Once again a gun had torn her whole world asunder. Carl kept looking at her during the meal, and she could tell he was not fooled by the brave front she was trying to put on.

"Excuse me." Michonne said. Rushing to the bathroom she locked herself in a stall and threw up, and slid shakily to the ground. Her breath was coming faster and faster, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't catch it. How long was she going to be like this? How long would she feel like the world had sharp teeth and it wanted to take a very big bite out of her?

"Michonne you in here? Everything OK?" Shane's voice called.

Michonne slowly unlocked the stall door and stepped out.

"Carl was worried about ya, didn't mean to barge in but I just wanted to check on ya."

"I'm OK."

"No yer not, if this is too much say the word and I'll drive you home."

"I just can't seem to get away from violence." Michonne said.

"Neither can I, but that's my job it must be different for you."

"How long have you been a homicide detective?"

"Going on twelve years now, so I know the toll these kind of things can take on a person. I mean it if you need to get away just say the word."

"Thank you but I'll be fine." She knew that she would probably feel this way until Rick was back in Possum Holler safe and sound. "We should get back to Carl and Judith, we don't want them to worry."

True to his word Shane took them to the Georgia Aquarium after their visit with Rick. It was a wonderful distraction for Carl and especially Judith. . She pressed her face close to the glass and oohed over the fishes. She squealed with delight at the playful dolphins. Everything seemed to amaze her more than the last thing, and some times watching Judith was more entertaining than the fish. Carl read up on everything he came across. He loved to learn and that was one of the things she respected most about him. Michonne felt more relaxed among the colorful swaying fish, and by the time they left she felt completely relaxed. Things were going to be all right now that they were all together.

Shane took Carl and Judith to the gift shop and spent a ridiculous amount of money on stuffed toys, t-shirts, and other trinkets for the both of them. After the aquarium Shane took them all out to dinner.

"Thanks so much for doing this for them they needed it."Michonne told Shane.

"I don't mind, they're like my kids. Ya know I was there when Carl was born, shit I can still remember holding him in my arms."

"He's a really good kid and Judith is so smart."

"They like you, Carl's been down in the mouth eva since his momma died, and this is the happiest I've seen him in a long while."

"I'm happy to help."

"Me too, Rick is like a brother to me there ain't nothin I wouldn't do fer him."

"I'm glad he has such a good friend looking out for him."

"Think he's happier to have you lookin after him, yer much prettier than I am."

"I've only just started seeing Rick, we're talking things slow given everything that's happened."

"I think that's smart it's gonna take sometime for him to work through some shit, but Rick's worth it ."

The next morning everyone got up early. Judith was finally allowed to see her dad and they wanted to get to the hospital as soon as visiting hours were open. Shane had still had not had a chance to drive them back to Possum Holler, so Michonne brought a brand new outfit for Judith to wear.

"I can't wait to see her face when she finally sees dad." Carl said.

Carl was in a much better mood now that his sister was going to be allowed to see their father. In fact everyone was in a better mood now that Rick had made it through the worst of his injury. Michonne felt more at ease in the hospital not having to worry so much. Worrying was all she had done since she found out that Rick had been shot. Now she could focus on taking care of everyone instead of just trying to keep everyone sane.

Rick had been moved to the third floor and his room was much bigger than the last one he'd been in.

"I'll go get some coffee and donuts, why don't the three of ya'll catch up." Shane said to Michonne outside the door of Rick's room.

"Thanks."

"Daddy!" Judith cried out when she spotted her father. Michonne set Judith down and she ran across the room to her father's bed.

"Hey, hey Jude." Rick called.

Michonne sat her on the bed and Rick hugged her tight as he could.

"Daddy missed you so much, did you miss me?"

"Oh yes." Judith said seriously and nodded. "Yes daddy"

"It's nice to know that I was missed." Rick said. "By everyone." He looked at his daughter and then his son, and finally his eyes caught hers. He smiled at Michonne and she smiled back. "Come sit up here Carl, you too Michonne there's room for all of us. Tell me all about the aquarium.

It was funny whenever the four of them were alone together it felt right, perhaps it was too soon for them to feel like a family, but they were all broken people healing together, and in doing so they'd formed a bond, and that bond made so that they belonged together.


	7. Chapter 7 Fallin' in Love Again

This story is highly AU and told from the perspective of Michonne, Rick and Carl. It doesn't follow the TV series, game, or the comics in any particular order and though there are characters from the show, game, and comics I've changed them up and rearranged things to fit my story. Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed, but in the immortal words of Erykah Badu: Keep in mind that I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit.

**7\. Fallin' in Love Again**

"Mimi wake up!"

Michonne opened her eyes.

"Hello Judith." She said and smiled at the toddler's face that was hovering only inches above hers.

Judith smiled back. "Let's make toast and eggs." She began to wiggle off of Michonne's bed. A second later she hit the ground with a soft thump and ran into the kitchen.

"Don't touch anything until I get in there." Michonne warned. She pulled her hair up into a bun and slipped on a robe. Judith was waiting for her at the kitchen table watching Doc McStuffins

In the wake of her father's absence Michonne had become the primary care giver in Judith's life. Wherever Michonne went she was right behind her following like a little lamb. In the morning Judith woke her up even before her alarm could go off.

"Mimi let's make cheesey eggs now." Judith insisted from her place at the table.

'Right." Michonne said. She went to the refrigerator and got out the eggs, milk, and, cheese. Judith pulled the little red stool Shane had brought her over to the counter. After scrambling up on to the stool, Michonne gave her an egg and helped her to crack it into the bowl. Carl came shuffling into the kitchen yawned, and then stopped in the middle of the floor and started digging the sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning Carl."

"Morning." Carl said mid yawn.

"Wash your hands and set the table, please."

Carl did as she asked him to.

Michonne's relationship with Carl was different than her relationship with Judith. Their relationship had morphed her into some weird teacher-mom entity. Carl was no longer just a student and she wasn't his mother, but she was more to him than just a teacher. Over the course of less than a summer, she'd become responsible for his physical and emotional needs as well. She wondered what would happen to their happy dysfunctional little family once they all went back to Possum Holler?

A town where racist conservatives lived to voice their opinions. Even she had reservations about dating a white police officer. What would school be like for Carl once the other students found out she was dating his father? What would the other officers say to Rick? What would her colleagues say or not say to her? Things had the potential to become extremely ugly extremely fast, and if things didn't work out she'd be the one to take the brunt of the fallout. Whatever the consequences were she'd have to deal with them, Rick and his children were a part of her life now.

"What would you like to do today?" Shane asked Carl. Shane usually wasn't able to join them for breakfast, and when he did he usually only stayed long enough for a cup of coffee, but today he had a surprise for Carl.

Carl shrugged. Now that things in his life had gotten relatively back to normal Carl had become sulkish. Michonne could hardly blame him, she could tell by the decrease in his cell phone activity that his friends had stopped calling as much as they once had. She couldn't even drive him down to Possum Holler for a visit with his friends since they were both vacationing out of state. She and Shane tried to make sure Carl had fun by taking him all around Atlanta, but it wasn't a substitute for having someone your age to hang around with.

"How about going to see Werewolves of London?" Michonne asked.

Carl swallowed the piece of toast he was chewing on. "Oh my god! I can't believe I forgot that movie was coming out today! " Carl exclaimed. "Please tell me you have tickets I've been dying to see that movie."

"Well I do have a ticket, but I can't take you because Shane has to work and he'll have the car." Michonne explained and winked at Shane when Carl wasn't looking.

"How about after you get off of work?" Carl suggested.

"Ya know I never know when that's gonna be." Shane said.

"Oh." Carl replied and slumped back in his chair.

"Lucky for you my neighbor Morgan is taking his son Duane, and he said he'd be more than happy to take you with him."

"Yesssss!" Carl hissed. "Werewolves of London is the best comic in the world, the movie is going to be so epic

Michonne laughed. She was glad something had managed to make Carl smile again. He'd had a rough life, and now he was having a rough summer, all she wanted was for him to have a little happiness.

"Thanks Ms. Mitchell, thanks Shane." Carl said. He got up from his seat and quickly hugged them both.

Shane pulled some money out of his wallet. "Here." He said handing Carl a fifty dollar bill. "Morgan's going out to eat , why don't you treat Duane, and keep the change"

"OK." Carl said staring at the fifty dollar bill as if it would disappear if he stopped looking at it. "I gotta go find my Blood Fang t-shirt, thanks again!"

"Rinse your dishes off and put them in the dishwasher, please." Michonne said.

"I gotta surprise for you too.' Shane said to Michonne. "My momma is gonna watch Judith today, and you and Rick are gonna spend some alone time together."

"Are you sure, what if-

"Don't worry your pretty little face off, Rick trust my momma, she's watched Carl before. Trust me it's all worked out, ya'll gonna have dinner at the Dragon Palace, and you're gonna have a wonderful time ."

"Thank you Shane, Michonne said finally relenting,

"Rick has been feeling awful he hasn't been able to take you out to dinner."

"That's silly, he was just shot, him taking me out to dinner is the last thing on my mind."

"I know, but you're taking care of his children right now, and I think he needs some way to say thank you.

Shane began to gather up the dishes off the table

Michonne took Judith from her chair, and Judith wrapped her arms around Michonne. "Mimi you my best fend." Judith said.

"Why thank you Judith, you're my best friend too."

Shane smiled. "She's gotten really attached to you. You know you're the closest thing she's got to a momma.

Michonne frowned.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's just what happens if we go back to Possum Holler and things don't work out between Rick and I?"

"Well you'd still see Carl in school everyday, and Rick would never stop you from seeing Judith no matter what happened between the two of ya."

"What if I couldn't handle it? When he got shot it was like reliving a nightmare, if he died I-" Michonne stopped mid sentence. "I care for him, I care for him and his children more than I ever expected to. I don't know that I could be around Rick if he started dating someone else."

"Are you kidding? Rick ain't gonna date anyone else, he's too sprung on you."

"I don't know about all of that."

"I do, and I've known Rick a lot longer than you have. You make him happy and his children happy. That's all he wants"

"Rick and his children make me happy too, if it wasn't for them I'd probably be at home all alone reliving bad memories and sobbing endlessly over Alley."

"Well there you go, ya'll was meant to be." Shane said. "Now go on and get ready."

Michonne got Judith dressed before she got dressed herself. It felt strange to be going on a date after everything that she and Rick had been through. Their relationship felt more evolved than the time they spent together, yet what did they really know about each other?" What she did know about him was enough to make her want to keep seeing him.

Shane's mother arrived in a whirl of overly teased hair and Tuberose Gardenia. She was tall like Shane and had the same dark eyes. When she saw Michonne she gave her a bone crushing hug that nearly lifted her off her feet.

"Bless you for looking after Rick and his children like this." She said after she released Michonne from her hug. "Now where's that sweet little baby girl?"

Carl brought his sister to see Mrs. Walsh and she let out a whoop. "Ain't she cuter than a June bug, and Carl you sure shot up since last time I saw you." She grabbed Carl up and gave him the same bone crushing hug that Michonne had just received minutes ago.

"Well don't just stand there Shane, take Michonne to see her man. I've got things from here on out."

"Ya ready?" Shane asked.

Michonne nodded and gave Judith and Carl hugs. Judith started to cry as Michonne left without her and she hesitated. "Maybe I shou-

"She'll stop crying as soon as you leave." Mrs. Walsh said. "I've been looking after children my whole life and I know the drill. Go on and have a good time with your man"

Michonne smiled. Shane was a lot like his mother.

Shane dropped Michonne off outside of the Dragon Palace, where Rick was already waiting for her. It was a beautiful restaurant with a huge brass and jade dragon fountain in the entry. When Rick came up to Michonne walking that bow-legged walk she found so sexy her heart did a flip-flop. He looked even more handsome than the last time that she'd seen him. He was wearing a button up flannel shirt and a pair of nice jeans. He'd grown a beard too.

Michonne stroked his cheek, you grew a beard it's so dapper."

"If I knew you liked me in a beard so much I would have grown one sooner."

"I like you anyway I can get you." Michonne teased.

Rick took Michonne's hand a guided her to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

The waitress brought out their menus and they both took a few minutes to look them over before ordering. Rick ordered chop suey and Michonne ordered mu shoo pork.

"I've got some good news." Rick said.

"Really? What is it?" Michonne asked and spread her napkin in her lap.

"I'm recovering much faster than the doctors expected, I might get out of the hospital by the end of this week."

"That is good news. You're children have really missed you."

"What about you? Have you missed me?"

"Everyday."

'Good, I've been counting the days until I can get out of the hospital and be with you all."

"I think Carl might have made a friend." Michonne informed Rick."He's going to the movie with Shane's neighbor Morgan and his son Duane."

"I've met Morgan before, he's good people."

Their food arrived and Michonne's stomach growled. She didn't realized how hungry she'd been. The food tasted as wonderful as it had looked.

"You've got plum sauce on your cheek." Rick informed Michonne. He leaned forward and teased the sauce off the corner of her mouth with his tongue, and then kissed her on the lips. Michonne kissed Rick back She had never met a man quite like Rick, one minute he was goofy and shy, and the next he was a panty dropping Casanova.

"Fuck physical therapy, I think I've found my real cure." Rick said after their kiss was done.

The waitress who had come to give them their bill laughed. "He's good."

"Very good." Michonne replied stroking Rick's hand.

"You're even better." Rick said kissing Michonne again and she felt herself melting.

2

"Those cute girls over there are checking us out" Duane said.

Duane's father had just dropped them off at the movie theater. The whole ride over he and Duane had talked about the comic, until Duane's father had muttred under his breath "Not another damn one."

"What girls?" Carl asked.

"The ones wearing the Death Fang t-shirts, come on let's go get in line behind them."

Carl followed Duane over to where the girls were standing.

"You going to see Werewolves of London?" Duane asked the girls.

"Yes, I've been waiting to see this movie all summer." One of the girls replied.

"Me too." Duane said. "I know this movie is going to be the shit, I must have watched the trailer ten thousand times."

"So you're a Blood Fang fan?" The other girl asked. "I am too, but they were sold out, and I had to wear this punk ass Death Fang shirt instead."

"Death Fang isn't a punk ass Keisha, you are."

"Shut up Tamekia." Keisha snapped back. "Ugh, why are we even related?"

Carl laughed.

"You want to sit with us?" Duane asked. "I'm Duane, and this is Carl."

The girls exchanged smiles. "Sure. I'm Tamekia, and this is my cousin Keisha, who has the worst taste ever"

Keisha stuck her tongue out. "Come on Carl." She said wrapping her arm around his. "Sit by me. We Blood Fang fans gotta stick together."

Carl blushed. This was the most contact he'd had with a girl in his thirteen years of life. Keisha's skin was soft and she smelled like baby powder. He suddenly remember the fifty dollars burning a whole in his pocket, and thought he should buy Keisha some popcorn and a drink, Shane had told him to buy lunch for Duane, but he didn't think Shane would mind if he spent the money on a girl, in fact he'd probably encourage it.

After turning over their tickets the foursome headed over to the food counter to order food.

"I got this." Carl said feeling like a big shot as he whipped the fifty dollar bill from his pocket. He paid for the order and shoved the change back into his pocket, noting that he had enough money left over to buy everybody ice cream after the movie.

The theater was packed as Carl expected it to be, but they still manage to find good seats near, but not to near the back. Keisha sat next to Carl and Tamekia sat next to Duane. It was like being on a double date. Carl had never been on a date before, and he hoped he didn't do anything stupid to embarrass himself. After the lights dimmed and the previews ended Keisha grabbed Carl's arm.

"Here we go!" She whispered in his ear.

Carl wished that she would leave her arm where it was, he like the way it felt.

The movie had turned out to be better than Carl had expected. There were several parts that had been taken from the comics and put directly in the movie, and the actors portrayals of the characters were spot on. Carl liked the movie Blood Fang even better than the comic book one. The group left the theater talking excitedly.

"Do you have time to get ice cream?" Carl asked Keisha. "My treat."

"Ooh I love ice cream." Keisha said and slipped her arm around Carl's again.

Duane texted his dad to tell him they'd be over at the ice cream shop across the street.

Carl paid for everyone's ice cream and then found a table.

"Thanks Carl." Tamekia said.

" Yeah Thanks for the ice cream Carl." Keisha added. "That movie was so good, I want to see it again. We should all meet up and watch it again."

"Hell yeah." Duane said.

"I've still got some of my baby-sitting money left over, I can treat everyone next time." Keisha said.

"C-can I uh have like your number, so we can make plans?" Carl asked.

"Sure, it's 555-2636, dial it and that way your number will be in my phone too."

Carl wanted to do a back flip off of the table. A girl had asked for his number! A girl actually wanted his number! What had started off as the worst summer of his life, was quickly becoming the best summer of his life.

"Got it." Keisha said.

After they finished their ice cream, Carl and Duane walked the girls back over to the movie theater.

"Thanks for everything Carl." Keisha said. "I had a really good time." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"No problem, let's do it again." Carl said. He could feel himself blushing to the roots of his hair. If a girl ever kissed him on the lips he'd probably implode.

"Man Carl you're smooth as fuck." Duane said once the girls were out of earshot. "Pulling that money out like a boss, he shook his head, my man."

Carl just laughed. "I'm really starting to like Atlanta."

"So how long are you going to be staying with Shane?' Duane asked.

"Don't know I'll probably be here for at least another week or so."

"Good. I've been bored as hell , we should hang out."

"That would be cool. I've been stuck watching Bubble Guppies with my little sister."

"I don't know, I think it be nice to have a brother or a sister." Duane said. "It's just me and pops at our house. It's been that way ever since my mom died."

"Your mom died?" Carl asked staring at Duane with a shocked expression. "Mines too."

"For real, I'm sorry man." Duane replied exchanging his same shocked expression.

"Sorry about your mom too." Carl said.

They were both silent for a moment, and Carl was sure that like him, Duane was thinking about his mother. Carl had never met anyone else who had lost their mother before, in an odd way it was sort of comforting.

Mr. Jones pulled up in his Lexus. "Did you boys have a good time?" He asked once they were seated.

"Yes, thanks for taking me." Carl said.

"No problem, look anytime you want something to do feel free to come on over."

"OK."

When Carl got back to Shane's he was still at work, but Ms. Mitchell was waiting up for him.

"Did you have a good time at the movies?"

"Yeah, and me and Duane are going to start hanging out now."

"That's nice, Are you hungry?"

"No we ate at the movies."

"Oh, well if you do get hungry there's a plate for you in the refrigerator."

"OK, thanks."

"Your dad and I had lunch today, I don't want to get your hopes up, but the doctors think he might be out of the hospital by the end of this week."

"Really? Cool."

"If he is Shane and I are going to throw him a party, and you can invite Duane if you want."

His summer just kept getting better and better. He'd made a new friend, a girl had kissed him, not on the lips but it was still the most action he'd ever had, and now his dad was probably going to be getting out of the hospital early. After such a cruel summer, things were finally starting to look up.

3

Rick was pretty sure his physical therapist, Sven, was raised in a satanic cult. How else could he explain how much the man loved to torture him. Everyday Rick pushed his body to the absolute limit, only to have Sven scoff at his efforts and push him even further. Rick did it, because he wanted to be back to where he was, he wanted to be the man he was before the bullet had torn him apart. He didn't want to become some pencil pushing desk jockey. So everyday he let Sven kick him around the physical therapy room, and when it was all said and done he dragged his bruised ass and ego to the shower and lied in his bed feeling muscles hurt that he didn't even know existed, and then Michonne would come.

She breezed into his room like sunshine on a rainy day. His children always followed behind her looking happy, clean and well-fed. It was because of her that he could focus so much attention on his physical therapy. It was because of her he didn't lie awake at night wondering if his children were being cared for or not, and for that he felt like he could never repay her. There were no words, no gesture big enough for what she was doing.

When they got back to Possum Holler everything would change. She would go back to her house, and he would go back to his and he realized that he didn't want that to happen. He wonder if he'd scare Michonne off if he asked her to move in with him, at least until he was back at one hundred percent. He'd been trying to figure out a way to try and ask her ever since the doctor's told him he'd be getting out of the hospital early. She could even sleep in the guest room if she wanted, though Rick wouldn't mind waking up every morning with her body next to his.

Sometimes after therapy she would lie next to him and stroke his hair until he fell asleep, and he always managed to fall into the deepest most peaceful sleep when she wrapped her arms around him. He had gotten so used to this feeling that he actually craved her touch when she wasn't around. How could he go back to a life where she wasn't in it? It was funny he could survive being shot, put himself though grueling workouts, but he couldn't ask Michonne to temporarily move in with him.

Today when he got back from physical therapy his only vistor was Michonne. Carl was out with his new friend Duane, and Shane's mother had taken Judith shopping. It was the perfect time to ask her. He might not get an opportunity like this again.

"Michonne, I've been meaning to talk to you, not really talk, ask I guess. Or offer or suggest even." Shut up Rick you're rambling he told himself mentally.

Michonne had been lying at his side playing with his hair, but when he began to babble she sat up and backed away. She was expecting bad news Rick realized. He shook his head inwardly he really needed to work on his technique.

"When we get back home things are going to change." He looked at Michonne's face trying to read her expression. It was somewhere between horror struck and confused. Damn why was he so bad at this? "I know you'll be going back to your house, and I know we haven't been seeing each other that long." He scratched the back of his head. "Do you want to move in with me, I mean just for a little while. I know I've asked an awful lot of you, but Michonne I need you in my life."

Finally Michonne smiled, and it was like a thousand angels singing a chorus. "I already told you Rick, for as long as you need me you've got me."

"I do need you Michonne, and not just as someone who watches my children. I need you."

"I need you too Rick." Michonne said lying back down next to him.

"Good, because if you didn't I don't know what I'd do with myself without you."

"You know once everyone in Possum Holler finds out were a couple things are going to get ugly."

"I know, Rick said, but for once in my life Michonne I'm going to get things right. We're a family now and I'm not going to let anyone hurt my family."

Falling in love for the second time was scarier than the first time Rick thought. The second time you knew what you had to lose. The second time around you had time to think of all the mistakes you made the first time, and all of the mistakes you could make the second time. Only nothing about being with Michonne felt like a mistake. Everything about their relationship felt right and he'd be a damn fool to give up that feeling. He'd be an even bigger fool to give up Michonne because what some racist assholes couldn't handle. Whatever happened to them when they got back to Possum Holler was going to happen, he couldn't change that any more than he could change his feelings for Michonne.

"I never thought my life would turn out this way, but I'm glad that it did." Michonne said.

"Me too." Rick said and kissed her forehead. Me too"aid and kissed her forehead. Me too"


	8. Chapter 8 Fear and Infection in Atlanta

**8\. Fear and Infection in Atlanta**

"We sure are going to miss the two of you." Dr. Nickles said. "Take extra special care of Rick for us Michonne."

"I will. I promise." Michonne said and gave the doctor a hug. "Thanks for everything."

Rick was getting out of the hospital two days earlier than the doctor's said that he would, and the entire hospital staff responsible for Rick's recovery had come out to see him off. It had been twelve days, twelve long agonizing days waiting for Rick to get out of the hospital. Michonne felt like she hadn't slept in those twelve days.

"I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart." Rick said. "I'm alive and I'm going home to my family because of you." Rick's voice shook as he fought back his tears.

Michonne grabbed his hand and with her other hand she rubbed his back. Even if she didn't say anything she wanted him to know she was there for him. Her hug caused a chain reaction. Everyone began hugging each other, crying, and saying their goodbyes as they left until finally it was just the two of them.

"Have you got everything?" Michonne asked.

Rick nodded. "Let's go, Shane will be here any minute now"

An orderly wheeled Rick out of his room and into the hallway.

Michonne push the button on the elevator, the doors opened a few seconds later and they made their way down to the lobby.

"I can't wait to surprise Carl and Judith."

"They are going to absolutely lose it when they see you sitting at the table for breakfast. I'm going to record the whole thing." Michonne said.

Instead of telling Carl and Judith about their father's early release she and Rick were going to surprise them at breakfast. Shane's mother, Ceil, was staying with the sleeping children until the two of them got back home. The elevator doors sprung open and Michonne took over pushing Rick's wheelchair outside.

"There's Shane." Rick said.

Shane's car pulled up to the curb in front of them. Shane flung his car door open and leapt out. "Well lookie, lookie what the cat done drug in." Shane called and pulled Rick out of his wheel chair and gave him a bear hug.

"Shane be careful!" Michonne warned.

"I'm OK." Rick said.

Michonne sat in the passenger's seat and Rick sat in the back. Shane had to go to work, so he dropped Michonne and Rick off at the front door.

Ceil opened the front door as quietly as possible for them. If Carl or Judith woke up early it would ruin the surprise. "I'm just gonna go now, but ya'll have a lovely breakfast." Ceil hugged Michonne, and then Rick, and Michonne saw him wince under her bone crushing hug.

Once she was gone, Michonne slipped off her shoes, washed her hands, and she and Rick started on breakfast. It reminded her of the first time she'd spent the night at his house.

"Won't be long before my shaggy-haired teenaged monster is driven downstairs by the smell of bacon." Rick leaned against the counter and took a sip of the coffee he'd just brewed.

"Go sit at the table." Michonne insisted. She got her phone ready to record.

She heard Judith's little feet first, she was probably wondering why Michonne wasn't in her bed. A few moments later she heard Carl's door open, and then his slow plodding steps.

Judith skipped into the kitchen and stopped on the spot when she saw her father. "Daddy you back!" She shouted. "Carl daddy's back! Daddy's back"

Carl's feet thundered down the steps, he skipped the last three entirely and grabbed his father up in a back clapping hug. "What are you doing here?"

"They let me out early on good behavior." Rick teased.

Carl spun around. "You knew didn't you?" He asked her.

Michonne's smiled split her face. "I did, but your dad wanted to surprise you."

"It's the best surprise I've had all summer."

Rick held his arm out, come on Mimi this is a family hug."

She went into the crook of Rick's arm and the four of them hugged. The feeling was similar to wrapping up in a blanket fresh from the dryer on a winter's day. After the shooting she stayed shut up with her guilty thoughts until she had convinced herself she was better off alone. She'd pushed all of her friends away hoping they would leave, but not really wanting them to. They had though, one by one like stars falling from the sky they had left her.

Ever since then she had been afraid she was too damaged to ever connect to another human being, that she would never be needed or remembered by anyone. Rick needed her though, and Carl and Judith needed her, they didn't just need her they wanted her. All of them wanted her in their lives. They all chose to have her in their lives, and she chose them. She wasn't too far gone and everyday they reminded her of that.

"Now that I'm out of the hospital, that means we'll be going back home soon." Rick began.

"How soon is soon?" Carl asked.

"Well my doctor's want me to finish my physical therapy here, and I've got a couple of outpatient treatments, so about another three weeks."

"What about school?"

"I'll have to arrange something with your teachers."

"What about you Ms. Mitchell, are you staying here or going back to work?"

"Not until your father is ready to leave Atlanta. I've already asked for the time off, and the school approved."

"So that means we're all staying together?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, but there is something else. Rick added. "When we get back to Possum Holler Michonne is going to be living with us until I'm all the way back on my feet."

"Ms. Mitchell is going to live in our house?" Carl's jaw dropped to epically low proportions. "Dad are you seeing Mrs Mitchell?"

Rick coughed. "Aah, yeah I am."

"You two are dating?" He asked Michonne even thought he had just asked his father.

"Yes." Michonne confirmed. "Yes we are."

"How do you feel about it?" Rick asked.

"OK, but it's a little weird. I mean we'll see each other in school and everything."

"Well you won't be placed in my class next year, if that helps."

"I liked your class" Car reminded her.

"I'm sorry Carl, I don't want to make things difficult for you."

"They always were anyway." Carl said and shrugged.

"Well I don't want to make them more difficult." Michonne amended.

"It's OK, really." Carl assured her. "Can I go over to Duane's house?"

"Yeah, but be back for lunch." Rick called.

"Don't forget to rinse off your dishes and put them into the dishwasher." Michonne added.

"Right." Carl said jogging back to the kitchen table to collect his dishes.

"Do you think he's really OK with us being together?" Michonne asked once Carl had left.

"Yes, don't worry everything will work it's self out."

Michonne didn't say anything, but she wanted to say telling her not to worry was useless. Since Rick asked her to move in with him it was all that she did.

* * *

It was six in the morning, and Judith was still sleeping and Carl was barely awake as Michonne backed out of Shane's drive way. He had lent them the use of his old Bonneville that he kept in his parents' garage, and while Michonne was grateful for the car, she couldn't help but feeling like she was driving around in a tank. It wasn't a very long ride back to Possum Holler, and for that she was thankful.

"When we get in town we'll wake the kids and go to breakfast" Rick said.

"Then we can go by the houses and pack anything we forgot."

"We make one hell of a couple." Rick said.

Michonne grinned broadly. "I think that's the first time you've referred to us as a couple."

"Well it won't be the last."

They arrived in Possum Holler fifteen minutes after eight. "How about breakfast at Sue's Diner?" Rick asked.

Michonne nodded. Sue made the best breakfast in town and it was cheap and the portions were big. After she managed to park the monstrous Bonneville she spun around in her seat and reached back and shook Carl's shoulder softly. "Wake up kiddo."

Carl opened his eyes for a second and looked at her. "Not yet mom." He mumbled and then fell back asleep.

A warmth and sadness spread through Michonne's heart as she looked at Carl. He seemed more childlike, more innocent when he slept, and she thought he must have always looked like that to Lori. Michonne wished that Lori could see what a fine young man her son was turning out to be.

Rick said nothing, but he smiled at her softly.

Michonne didn't say anything either. She felt too swallowed up in emotions to trust her voice to speak. She took Judith from her car seat and Rick woke Carl up again.

Sue's diner wasn't very busy, just a few old men sitting at the counter drinking coffee and reading The Possum Holler Gazette. The headline read: _State of Rhode Island held under quarantined due to virus outbreak._

"I'm starving." Carl moaned and slid into the nearest booth.

"I guess we're sitting here." Rick said.

A waitress came over to their booth. "Welcome to Sue's Diner, I'm your waitress Tammy." She plunked down three menus on the table. "Can I get ya'll anything to start off with?"

"Two coffees and two orange juices please." Rick ordered.

"Kay." Tammy said and headed towards the kitchen.

"Can I get the lumber jack platter?" Carl asked his father as he read over the menu.

"I don't know that's an awful lot of food for a little fellow like you." Rick teased.

Tammy came back to their booth with their drinks on a tray, and as she set them down, Michonne gave her their orders. Blueberry pancakes for Judith. she ordered French toast for herself, and Rick and Carl ordered the lumber jack platter.

Tammy jotted down their orders and then picked up the menus, and stopped to stare at Rick for a moment when she collected his. "Hey ain't you the cop who got shot, how ya doing?"

"I'm much better, thanks."

"Well that's good, we was all praying for ya."

"You're like famous dad." Carl said.

"More like infamous." Rick replied.

Their food arrived moments later. Judith's pancake was shaped like a bunny which delighted her to no end.

"It's on the house ya'll." Tammy said. "You stay safe now officer Grimes."

"Thank you, I will."

Rick left a tip, and Michonne took Judith to the bathroom to wipe the syrup off her face and hands.

Rick drove them back to his house. "Carl go across the street and get our mail from ." He asked his son as they all piled out of the car.

Carl sighed dramatically "I don't want to! She smells like moth balls, and she never stops talking"

"Go!" Rick commanded.

Carl stomped his way across the street.

"One of the perks of being a parent is making your kids do things that you don't want to do yourself." Rick said watching Carl as he crossed the street.

"She made me look at pictures of every school dance she's ever been to." Carl said when he came back with the mail.

"She's lonely. You've done a very good thing." Rick told him and unlocked the front door.

Carl shot his father an angry look before going inside the house.

"You're a cold blooded man Rick Grimes." Michonne teased and followed Carl inside.

While Rick and Carl started packing up the things they would need for the next three weeks, Michonne went into Judith's room to help her pack.

Judith's room was small but cute, pale green walls and white frilly curtains. There were pictures of circus animals hanging on the wall. She had a bookcase that was shaped like a house, and a rocking chair with Pooh and all of his friends sitting on it in the corner. Michonne started pulling clothes out of the dressers and stacking them up in neat piles on the bed. Judith began pulling books off her bookcase and stacking them at her feet.

By the time everyone had finished packing it was time for lunch. There wasn't any food in the house so they walked to the Piggy Wiggly that was only a few blocks away from Rick's house. Everyone who saw them along the way gave them inquiring looks. Michonne ignored the looks, but some people were whispering too, and they weren't even trying to whisper quietly.

"She sure pounced on him fast!" She heard one woman say. "Once you go black." Another man had remarked. If people didn't think she and Rick were a couple when they left town together, they did now. Maybe it was better for people to find out about them now, that way by the time school started it would be old news, or at least an idea people had time to get used to.

"Piggy piggy in a wiggy." Judith sang happily from the shopping cart that Michonne pushed.

"Feels weird being back home, Carl said, everything is exactly the same, but it feels different for some reason."

"You've broaden your horizons, that's why." Rick explained.

"I kind of wish we could stay in Atlanta, but then I'd miss my friends and our house."

"Yeah, but you'd be closer to your little girlfriend."

"Shane has such a big mouth!" Carl snapped. "I told him Keisha isn't my girlfriend, she's just my friend." Carl said, but Michonne had noticed that he'd gone completely red in the face.

"Did you hear me mention any names?" Rick asked innocently.

"Come on guys we've got a busy day ahead of us."Michonne said to save Carl from any further embarrassment.

Michonne didn't buy anything that needed to be cooked, they had sandwiches, fresh fruit, and lemonade. In the kitchen all four of them got down to work. Michonne made the sandwiches while Rick got a bag of chips from the pantry and poured them in a bowl, and Carl made a picture of tea and lemonade. Even Judith helped by bringing out the paper plates and cups. Rick spread the picnic blanket out in the middle of the back yard, and Michonne set out the plates, cups, and plastic wear. For dessert they had red velvet cupcakes, and Judith ended up with more frosting on her than the cupcake.

"How do you manage to get it in your ears?" Rick asked.

"Please, she's always a slob when she eats." Carl said. "She only just stopped dumping her bowl on her head."

"Least she doesn't go wee wee in the dryer."

"Dad!" Carl shouted.

Michonne laughed.

"I was only three then!"

"Well your sister is only two, so cut her some slack."

After lunch Rick drove them straight to Michonne's house. She got her mail and packed everything she would need for the next three weeks. She missed her house, but she didn't miss being alone.

"Everyone ready?" Rick said as he slid in the driver's seat. "We'll be back to the Holler someday, but for now it's Atlanta here we come!"

Judith was wide awake on the drive back, and she sang the little Einsteins theme song over and over for most of the trip. By the time they were only a few miles away from Shane's house Michonne found herself singing the song out loud along with Judith, and it wasn't long before Rick and Carl we're joining in. The louder and sillier they sang the more it made Judith laugh.

"I don't know about you but, I think we're good enough to start our own band" Rick said

Out of her peripheral vision Michonne saw something, a person, walking straight for the car, and before she could shout a warning, Rick hit them. Michonne could hear the hood of the car indent from the force of the impact. The windshield cracked as the pedestrian's head hit the glass and then was flung several feet away from the car, and onto the pavement.

"Hole-lee-fuckin shit." Rick cried. "They just ran out in front of my car." He unbuckled his seat belt. "Stay in the car." He warned.

"Please be careful." Michonne said. She spun around, Carl take Judith out of her car seat and put her on the floor."

Carl did what Michonne asked without question.

From the front seat Michonne watched as Rick approached the pedestrian, but they had managed to get to their feet before Rick could reach them. She could see the person clearly now. The person, if you could call them that walked like it was in pain, their skin looked as if it had rotted away. It looked like someone had dug a rotting corpse from it's grave and made it walk. It looked like a decomposed robot come to life. There was a smell too, it reminded Michonne of the time she went on vacation and came home to find a racoon had died in her garage.

"Are you OK?" Rick asked but he had taken a wide step backwards, and his hand was on his gun.

The person made a noise that wasn't human, it made the hairs on the back of Michonne's neck stand on end.

"Why don't you lie down, I'll call in for help." Rick said. "Just take it easy."

The rotten pedestrian lunged for Rick but he stepped back, they lunged at him again grabbing Rick by the shoulders and trying to bite him. Rick shoved them to the ground.

"Get on the floor!" Rick screamed back at Michonne and Carl.

Michonne didn't need a second bidding she dropped down to the floor of the car. She heard gun shots go off and she plugged her ears.

A few moments later Rick got back in the car and locked all of the doors. He was as pale as a ghost and shaking. "I called it in, they told us to stay in the car until help arrives."

"You're not hurt are you?" Michonne asked feeling him over. He felt clammy to the touch.

Rick shook his head slowly and stared out the window. "No, but something is wrong, I hit that person with my car, but they wouldn't stop trying to attack me, so I shot them two times in the chest, and they just got back up!"

"What?"

"Oh my god!" Carl exclaimed.

"I had no choice, they just kept coming after me trying to bite me, and so finally I shot them in the head and they didn't get up, but that person they didn't look right. Their skin from the looks and smell of it, had rotted away."

"So I noticed." Michonne said. "You don't think that person had that virus do you?"

"I don't know, Rick said, but I think we're about to find out."

Michonne looked out the windshield to see army trucks pulling up the street. They were all carrying soldiers, and all of the soldiers were carrying assault rifles. The soldiers were only one part of the huge caravan that was coming up the road. There were hazmat trucks, ambulances, police cars, charter buses, and fire trucks.

"Dad what's going on?" Carl asked from the back seat.

Down the street Michonne saw a small group of people, at first she thought it was a group of neighborhood spectators coming down the street to see what was going on, but she noticed they were all walking as if they were being worked by a bad puppeteer. Then she heard them making that inhuman groaning sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Michonne shivered, and Judith began to cry. Whatever was going on wasn't good, and by the looks of things they weren't going to get better anytime soon.

2

After Rick called in for help things started happening so fast that he still wasn't sure if anything that was happening to him were real or not. People in hazmat suits removed the body from the street. The army set up a roadblock and Checkpoint. A mandatory evacuation was given to everyone with in a 100 mile radius of where the accident took place. That included Shane and his neighbor Morgan and Duane. If nothing else positive came of all of this at least they were all together. After the evacuation they were all put on buses and shipped five miles out of Atlanta to the town of Calbert. Their bus had dropped them off outside of an out-dated looking high-rise convention center that had hotel rooms attached to the back of it by a catwalk. The national guard surrounded the building and everyone was ushered into one of the larger convention rooms and sat before a stage with a podium on it Rick and the rest of the evacuees had been waiting, for at least an hour now, for someone to come in and speak to them. A room full of nervous, scared, and irritable people, if they didn't address the crowd soon they were going to have a riot.

Finally someone approached the podium and began to speak. "Hello, I am Master Sargent David Wolf, of the United States army. The centers for disease control, and the Department of Health and Human Services have confirmed a massive outbreak of the Cadere virus. The outbreak has reached pandemic levels in the state of Georgia, and for that reason all of you that have been brought here will be quarantined to this building for the unforeseeable future. You are not to leave the grounds without the direct consent of the U.S. United States army. In a few moments well be starting a mandatory registry where you will each be issued an identification badge with a bar code, you are to wear your identification badge at all times-

The Master Sargent was abruptly interrupted as everyone in the audience began shouting and objecting all at once, but Shane's voice was the loudest. "This isn't legal!" he shouted."You can't force us to stay here!"

"This building has been placed under martial law if you try to resist or leave in anyway you will be treated as a terrorist, and we will stop you by any means." The Master Sargent explained. A hush fell over the crowd as the weight of their situation sank in. Master Sargent David Wolf began to speak again. "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working around the clock to respond to this outbreak, so It is important that you listen carefully to announcements from myself or any other military or health officials while you are here. We are working diligently to protect your family and the community against this public health threat."

Michonne hugged Judith closer to her and waited for Carl to be distracted by his cell phone before speaking. "I'm scared Rick, we're under martial law that means if any one of us show signs of sickness they could kill us all and there's nothing we could do."

"Well be OK Michonne, they just want to keep us here till things blow over."

"Blow over?" Shane questioned. "Don't you find it odd that the news has never shown pictures of anyone with the virus, their haven't been any interviews with survivors? There isn't even an interview with any of the sick people's family members. This ain't something that's gonna blow over, it's something our government is trying to cover up."

Carl had long ago stopped using his cell phone, and looked up at his father with a horror-stuck expression "It's the end of the world isn't it dad?"

"No, I know things seem scary right now, but things will be back to normal soon. Let's not all get caught up in some crazy conspiracy."

Shane glared at him. "I'm not a crazy conspiracist. You're dreaming if you think the government brought us all here to protect us. Ya saw someone come back from the dead and attack ya, and our own government is so afraid of the truth about this virus spreading, it's willing to break the law and round us up like stray dogs on the street to keep things quiet"

"I think now is not the time to get into all of this." Rick said looking at his son and daughter. "Let's just go get register for now."

Shane looked at Rick with contempt and shook his head. "You'd better wake the hell up man." He snarled and stalked off.

Rick started to go after his best friend, but Michonne put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't, I think it's still sinking in for him, it's still sinking in for all of us."

At registry they were given their housing assignments, and a monthly supply of government issued groceries and toiletries, and household supplies. Their new home was hotel 15c. and Shane was just across the hallway from them. Rick used the key card he'd been given to unlock the door to their home for the unforeseeable future. It had a strong smell of disinfectant. The furniture was plain, functional, and looked brand new. They had a living room, a full service kitchen with a dining area, one bathroom. There was a small closet that housed an extremely small stackable washer and dryer. There was only one bedroom, but it was huge and divided into two rooms by sliding doors.

"Does this mean I have to share a room with Jude?" Carl griped.

"You do, but all things consider Carl I'd say you're pretty lucky."

"Your dad's right. At least we're alive and together." Michonne added. She set down a box of government issued supplies.

Everything in their room had government issued and a serial number stamped on it Rick noticed. The thought made Rick uncomfortable, this was not a fly-by-night operation, just how long had the government known about this deadly virus? Everything here suggested that this virus was something that wasn't just going to blow over. Shane might be more right than wrong, but he didn't want to worry his children if he didn't have to.

"Why don't we all unpack, and then get freshened up and we'll all feel better." Michonne said with false positivity.

"Yeah why don't we think of this time as a free, badly timed, and weird vacation." Rick said. "There's an indoor pool and sauna"

"Plus free cable and wifi" Carl added.

"Shane's here, and Morgan and Duane are too, why don't we invite them over for dinner." Michonne suggested.

"OK, cool!" Carl said.

"You see" Rick said. "If you just keep a positive attitude the time will fly by." Rick picked his daughter up and tossed her into the air and caught her and she giggled.

Michonne began to unpack some of their groceries and put them in their proper place. "What shall it be tonight?" Michonne asked. "Hamburger helper or tuna casserole?

"Hamburger helper." Carl said. "I'll set the table."

Rick was so thankful for Michonne. He knew that she must have been scared out of her mind after seeing someone basically come back from the dead, but she was putting on a brave front for his children. He wondered if the smell and the sound of the person he'd hit with his car was as embedded Michonne's brain as it was his. Thank goodness she had the presents of mind to put Judith on the floor of the car so she had not see anything, but Carl had seen everything. So far he wasn't acting like he was affected by anything he had seen, but Rick was convinced it was a clever act on Carl's part to put his mind at ease.

Rick set his daughter on the floor. "I'm going to go see if I can find Shane invite them to dinner."

"Can I come?" Carl asked.

"Not right now, why don't you stay here and read your sister a book."

"OK." Carl said, but he sounded disappointed.

Rick did not want to disappoint his son, but he knew Shane was right, the government hadn't invited them her to protect them, they were keeping tabs on them to see if anyone was infected. He needed to talk to Shane about some kind of plan B. When the shit hit the fan he wanted to be able to keep his family safe.

"Been looking for me long?" He asked as Rick approached him.

"Not very."

"Look sorry I flew off the handle, I just don't like any of this, something worse than bad is going down, this shit is probably global."

"I know, and that's why I need to talk to you about some kind of plan B. If I don't make it I need someone to take care of my children and Michonne, and I know you'll do it, I know that if I die you'll protect them with your life."

"You don't even have to ask me." Shane replied.

On the way back to his room, Rick and Shane ran into Morgan and Duane.

"Good to see you on your feet again." Morgan said when he saw Rick.

"Thanks man, it's good to see you too, hey were about to go have diner, would you two like to come?"

"Thanks, we'd like that."

Michonne had dinner ready by the time Rick got back with everyone.

"Duane!" Carl cried and ran over to his friend.

"Man this is crazy ain't it?"

"You don't know the half of it, you won't believe what happened to me." Carl said pulling Duane off into the corner to tell him about what they'd gone through earlier that day.

"I truly appreciate you inviting me to dinner." Morgan said. He looked over at his son, this is the happiest I've seen him all day."

Rick looked over at Carl and Duane, they were laughing and talking just like regular kids, and Judith sat on the floor playing with her zoo animals just like a regular kid, and that's exactly what he wanted for his children. He looked up into Michonne's eyes, they still seemed frightened still, but her face seemed determined to get through this. He nodded. For now they wouldn't tell his children how bad things were, they would get through this by pretending that they weren't going this.

3

Carl had been exploring the hotel when her heard someone call his name. Just as he looked up to see who it was something flew into his arms. When he looked down he realized that someone, and not something had run into him.

"Keisha!" He said stepping back and looking at her.

"This is so scary!" she exclaimed. "The national guard came knocking on our door and told us we had twenty minutes to pack up as much stuff as we could."

"How are you? How is your family?"

"They're OK, she said, I'm so glad you're here, what about your family are they OK?"

"Yes. We're all OK, and Shane, Morgan, and Duane are here."

"Oh wow, good news for a change."

"Did you hear, Carl asked, they're going to start a school up in the convention center if we're still here by September."

"I hope we're not here by September." Keisha groaned. "We've already been here one day, and it's been the longest day of my life."

"Kind of feels like were on some really crappy reality TV show."

Keisha laughed. "It does, so where are you staying?"

"Third floor room, 15c"

"Fourth floor room 12a, you should come up and visit me sometime. I have a wii we could play Mario kart"

"A wii? How did you manage that?" Carl said.

"It was already in the room we were assigned, but I didn't have anything to do with it. It's because of my dad"

"Your dad?"

"Yeah, he's kind of famous."

"What?"

"Just come up to my room around four o clock today, bring Duane too."

"OK."

"Well I've got to go now, I told Tameka I'd check out the view from the top floor of the convention center with her."

At three-thirty Carl found Duane, and the two of them waited until four o clock to go up to Keisha's room. As the door to Keisha's hotel room opened Carl's mouth flopped open. Tyreese Cheatwood was standing behind the door. Keisha's father was a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, and he'd won the Superbowl last year. Carl noticed his Superbowl ring and he stared at it pop-eyed.

"Oh my god." Duane said beside him. "Oh my god, no way man. I can't!"

"Erm, guys this is my dad Tyreese Cheatwood, but you probably already worked that out" Keisha said sheepishly.

"That game sir, that game was my life you don't even understand sir." Duane went on.

Carl was still trying to find the words to speak. It was unreal seeing him in person, and even more unreal seeing him under these circumstances.

Tyreese laughed," I'm happy I could help win the game for the ATL." He stepped back. "Come in."

Tyreese's room was at least twice the size of the room that he had been set up in. Tyreese room was more like a condo.

"You guys hungry? We've got some pizza, they're frozen, but they're pretty tasty." Tyreese said.

"Sure, thanks." Carl said. His life just couldn't get any more bizarre he thought.

"Come on let's go play Mario kart while we wait for the pizzas." Keisha said. "Sorry I didn't say anything about my dad earlier, it's just people act a certain way around me when they know who my dad is, and it was nice finally meeting someone who didn't want to get to know me because of dad." Keisha explained.

"It's OK I understand." Carl said.

The wii was set up in the lounge, were there was also a flat screen TV and a wet bar.

Tamekia was in the lounge and she waved to Carl and Duane when she saw them. "It's good to see the two of you alive and kicking."

"It's good to be alive and kicking, Duane said, "Pops and I saw some infected people, I threw up in my mouth man, their skin was all rotten and shit."

"Gross!" Keisha squealed.

"My dad hit an infected person and they just got up!"

"It didn't kill them?" Tamekia asked.

"No, I think people who have that virus are dead already?"

"How can they be dead, but walking around?" Keisha asked.

"I don't know, but the one my dad shot kept trying to bite him, like it was some kind of crazy cannibal."

"Did it die when your dad shot it?" Keisha asked.

"Not until he shot it in the head, and then the CDC came and took the body away."

"Can we please talk about something, less, scary, nasty, and upsetting please." Tamekia demanded.

"Right, Keisha said turning on the wii.

"I'm warning you now my Mario kart skills are on fleek. None of you can beat me" Duane bragged.

Everyone started out playing the game nicely, but then Tamekia shot a blue shell at Duane, and suddenly everyone was out for blood.

"How could you blue shell me like that?" Duane lamented.'

"I play to win not to make friends." Tamekia replied, but it was Keisha who won the game.

"I win. I win." Keisha cried zooming past her cousin to take first place.

"Only because your boyfriend cheated for you." Tamekia replied and looked at Carl who had just shot a blue shell at her.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Keisha cried her voice rising.

"Really, but I thought you said he was-"

Unfortunately for Carl he didn't get to hear what Keisha said about him, because she jumped up from her place on the floor and rushed over and covered her cousin's mouth with her hand.

Carl took his eyes for the screen for a second to look at Keisha, and his car spun out of control and crashed. If that wasn't a metaphor for his life right now he didn't know what was. He only just started hanging out Keisha so it wasn't like Carl though they were dating, he just wanted her to like him, but he remembered the day he and Duane meet up with Keisha and Tameika at Little Five Points, and while they'd walked around she held his hand. It was almost like being on a date.

"I think the pizzas are done, why don't we go eat" Keisha said and everyone followed her into the kitchen.

"I made four different pizzas because I don't know who likes what." Tyreese said.

"I like pizza!" Duane exclaimed.

Tyreese chuckled."Well then, help yourself."

They dove on the pizza.

"I wonder how long it will be before we see an actual delivery person again?" Keisha asked.

"What if we never get out of here man?" Duane asked. "What if they're planning on nuking us like in that Outbreak movie"

"Don't say that!" Tamekia cried.

"They're not going to nuke anyone" Tyreese said. "You kids shouldn't be worrying yourself too much about this virus, the government is just taking extra precautionary measures. We'll be out of here soon, and this time will just seem like a strange memory."

Carl knew that Tyreese was lying. He didn't believe a word of what he was telling them, but just like his dad he thought if he pretend that everything was all right, that he could fool them into thinking everything was all right. Nothing was ever going to be all right again. He kept thinking of that person that tired to bite his father, was that what you turned into if you caught the virus? A cannibal corpse? Whatever it is that people turned into Carl never wanted to become one of those things, he'd rather be nuked.

"I think my dad is wrong." Keisha said. "I this is the end of the world, and if push came to shove, I think the military would nuke us."

"You guys are freaking me out!" Tamekia shouted. "Do ya'll really think things are that bad?"

"I think there's nothing we can do about it right now, so we should probably chill and enjoy ourselves" Carl said.

Keisha raised her glass. "Here's to new friends and strong immune systems."


	9. Chapter 9 The End of the World as We K

**9\. The End of the World as We Know It**

Everyday for the past two months Rick , Michonne, Carl and Judith gathered in front of the TV to watch the news. Everyday there were reports of more cities, more states, more countries reporting massive outbreaks of the Cadere virus. They saw footage of cities slowly becoming ghost towns. Whenever Rick looked out the window of their apartel to the street below there was never traffic. He never saw anybody walking around, in fact he wouldn't have been surprised to see tumbleweed go blowing down the street.

Now at the end of their second month in quarantine Master Sargent David Wolf was calling another meeting. The mandatory meeting was being held in the convention center in the same room they'd been taken to when they'd first arrived in Calbert.

Right away Rick noticed a change in the Master Sergent's demeanor, during his first speech he seemed authoritative, cocky, and angry even. He'd given them a brief statement about their situation, dismissed them, and then had left them to stew in their own juices, but today was different. Today he seemed shaken.

Beside him Michonne sat ramrod straight and Rick could feel the tension inside of her. She had not been able to relax since they'd been quarantined. Carl was slumped down in his seat, his feelings were mercurial, no matter how hard he tried he could not get a bead on his son's feelings. Judith seemed to be coping the best out of all of them, but she was still too young to truly know what was going on. To his daughter this was all some amazing extended family vacation.

"I have just been handed down confirmation from The White House and the Centers for Disease Control that the Cadere virus has reached the global pandemic stage. Here to explain exactly what that means to all of you is Jacqui Prescott a microbiologist who works closely with the USAMRIID."

Jacqui Prescott took the podium. "The Cadere virus is a highly neurovirulent zoonotic virus. It is generally transmitted through a bite or scratch of the virus-containing saliva of an infected host. Symptoms usually appear three minutes to eight hours after a person becomes infected with the virus. Symptoms include a high fever, head and body aches, gangrene, severe sepsis, ataxia, and eventually death. Right now it has a case fatality rate of one hundred percent if left untreated, and there is no known treatment, no vaccine, no cure. The only thing public health officials can do at this time is to aggressively prevent the virus from spreading."

Rick looked over at Michonne she was growing more and more tense by the second. She looked like a rocket poised for take off. "It's going to be all right." Rick whispered in her ear. "All of us are going to be all right." He put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder, and he could feel some of her tension drain away as she leaned up against him. She reached over and took Carl's hand and he accepted it, and Judith lie stretched across Rick's lap while her head lie in Michonne's lap. As long as they were all together Rick was convinced they could survive anything. He looked back up at the stage.

Jacqui was still talking in her calm logical way as if she were a professor lecturing students, and not a microbiologist whose grim prognosis had just damned the entire world. "In the event of the Cadere virus reaching global pandemic levels the World Health Organization began setting up designated areas across the world to act as stop-gap quarantine shelters. Q.U.A.D.s., or Quarantine. Universal. Areas. of .Detention were set up as communities where citizens , despite being under quarantine, can carry on with their lives in a relatively normal way. This convention center you are all in now is the first Q.U.A.D in the history of this operation. You should all consider yourselves extremely lucky to have been brought here"

"Is she for fucking real?" Shane, who was sitting behind Rick, asked.

Rick wished that she was joking. He wished that this was all some joke, or some really disturbing dream and tomorrow he'd wake up in his bed back at home wondering what could have made him dream such a thing.

"Try to look on the bright side Shane, Michonne said, we're not trapped in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, we're in the safety of a quarantine universal area of detention."

Shane snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'd rather take my chances on the streets". He said as they filed out of the conference room.

Rick was actually with Jacqui on this one. Outside the barbwired wall of their Q.U.A.D. there were blackouts and bread lines. Outside of these walls public schools, universities, and libraries were closing. Banks were closed, and Rick couldn't remember the last time there was trading on wall street, America's economy was in a downward spiral, and it was about to crash and burst into flames. Public transport was at a standstill and airports were too, leaving travelers stranded, angry and confused, but he and his family were safe inside of the fishbowl.

The Calbert city convention center, or the fishbowl as it was referred to by everyone who lived there, was a circular glass and steel building sixteen stories high, and was now considered an official government building. Behind the convention center was the Peach Blossom Inn. it was fourteen stories high, had four hundred eighty rooms, and housed three-hundred fifteen evacuees. For the last two months it had become Rick's, Michonne's, Carl's and Judith's entire world.

Whatever they lacked Rick always reminded himself that it didn't matter because they were all together and alive, that idea was a lot easier to embrace sometimes than others. Watching the news and seeing the horror and death that was happening to the outside world made him feel thankful, but the days of the same walls, the same fenced in outside space, not knowing if the people you loved were dead or alive, took it's mental toll. Everyday was a guessing game when social media accounts stopped being updated and cell phones went unanswered, but inside the fishbowl life went on and he had to go along with it.

Today before he went back to their apartel he was going to go register Carl for school, and then he and Michonne were going to checkout the civilian job postings on the community bulletin board.

"It's so stupid that I have to go to school, what's the point?" Carl asked.

"The point is to learn." Michonne said. "Someone is going to have to teach the surviving future generations."

"Yeah, like there's even going to be a future" Carl groused.

"I told you not to talk like that!" Rick snapped. "We'll survive because the world has always had survivors."

Carl rolled his eyes.

"I mean it, if we stick together we'll survive together." This had become Rick's mantra over the last three months it's what kept him going when he felt like giving up, and he needed his son to believe it as much as he did.

The soldiers did not come inside of the hotel, the army left the running of the hotel up to civilians, and that's where the civilian employment service boards came in. The army had compiled a list of jobs needed to successfully run the hotel and surrounding area, and was calling on civilians to take up the jobs.

"Hey look Ms. Mitchell they're starting a daycare center and they need someone to run it." Carl said.

"After all we've been through you can call me Michonne."

Carl turned around. "OK, Michonne."

Rick smiled at the smile on his son's face. He knew Carl would never say it, but it meant a lot to him to be able to call the woman he no longer saw as just his teacher by her first name.

"I think it would be a good ideal for me to run the daycare, that way Judith would always be with at least one family member." Michonne said. She took an application form and began filling out her information.

"I was thinking the same thing." Rick agreed.

The school registry was formerly a ticket agency window, Rick took Carl over to the line and waited his turn. When he was next he spoke to the woman in the ticket window. She asked for his badge and driver's license and Rick pushed them under the slot beneath the glass window. The woman behind the glass scanned his badge.

"Mr. Richard M. Grimes, 125 Honeysuckle Lane, Possum Holler Georgia, 39850. Would you like to be called Officer Grimes or Rick?" She asked.

"Rick is fine." He told her. Since the fishbowl was now officially a government building, the computers had a database of all the evacuees personal information, it was not a comforting thought, but even before the quarantine a ten year old could pull up all his personal information if they knew how.

The woman asked for Carl's badge next and scanned it, and then handed back Rick's driver's license, and both of their badges. Behind the woman a printer began spitting out forms.

"Fill these out on both sides completely, sign and then date, then bring them back to me, please." She said and slid the papers underneath the glass. Rick took the papers and found a seat in one of the chairs placed along the wall. Rick hated filling out school forms, Lori had always done it before. There was a table next to Rick's chair with pens and clipboards on it and Rick grabbed one of each.

"I turned in my application." Michonne said as she walked up to him with Judith skipping beside her. "I should hear back from them by the end of this week."

"You'll get it." Rick assured her. "You're the best person for the job."

"How could you possibly know that?" Michonne asked her arms akimbo.

"Carl, do you think Michonne should get the job?"

"Yes."

"Jude, do you want to go to play school with Mimi?"

"Yes!" Judith shouted.

"There you go." Rick said. "Best person for the job like I said."

Michonne laughed.

"Well I guess I need to get a job. Let's go see what they have to offer."

The civilian employment service boards were just a row of cork boards with a print out of jobs, their descriptions, and the hours and the qualifications of each job.

"Well they don't have an opening for a Sheriff, but they do need someone to patrol the hotel and the grounds around it." He said and picked up an application and began filling it out.

After Rick finished filling out his application the foursome headed back to their apartel. No their home, he had to start thinking of it that way if he had any chance of getting through this. He slid his key card into the metal slot and opened their front door.

"I'm going to go swimming." Carl announced.

"Take your little sister with you and keep an eye on her." Rick warned.

Carl sighed exaggeratedly, but got Jude ready for the pool anyway.

"Be back in time for lunch." Michonne called to Carl as he left.

"I mean it you keep an eye on your sister."

"I know!" Carl snapped. "I know how to watch Jude, dad. Gees"

Rick let out a deep breath after Carl left. "You OK?" He asked Michonne and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't know, what's happening to the world Rick?"

"I wish I could tell you, we just have to be prepared for the worst." He said and pulled her in for a hug.

"I don't even know if I want to know what the worst is. Dead people are already coming back to life dead." She shook her head. "What I said doesn't even make sense."

"None of this does." Rick replied.

"My parents, my brother and sisters are out there and I don't know what happened to them."

"Until you hear differently just assume they're safe."

"You know what they say about assuming." Michonne countered.

"I know Mimi, but if you keep thinking about it you'd be at the better end of a bottle of bourbon right now, or is that just me?"

"Oh, Rick." Michonne said and buried her head in his chest.

"We will get through this I promise. This isn't the first pandemic the world's been through and it won't be the last."

"What if I don't make it though? Whatever that virus turns you into, I don't want to become that. If I contract this virus promise me you won't let me become like that person you hit."

"I won't. I promise, but you're not going to get this virus. Lori had always told him he was stubborn as a mule and he was going to use his stubbornness to his advantage. He refused to believe that they wouldn't survive.

There was a knock on the door.

Michonne stepped away from Rick. "I'll get it"

It was Shane. "Mind if I join ya'll for lunch? I don't wanna eat alone after that meeting."

"The more the merrier." Rick told him.

"I'll even make it, ya'll like Rubens?" Shane asked and held up a box of his government issued rations.

"You make the sandwiches and I'll make French onion soup." Michonne offered.

"So what'd ya'll think about what that lady Jacqui had to say?" Shane asked.

"She's told us a lot more about this virus than anyone else has so far." Rick replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't understand most of what she was talking about. Shit man I don't speak nerd."

"Let me break it down for you." Rick said. "Virus bad. Virus have no cure. Virus kill."

"Well thank you Rick Grimes the science guy."

"So Shane did you apply for a job?" Michonne asked.

Rick smirked. Michonne was always playing the peacekeeper. It was one of the things he admired most about her.

"Yeah, signed up to be a glorified security guard."

"Really? Rick did too maybe you'll get to be partners again." Michonne said and began chopping up an onion.

"The dream team back together again, I can dig it." Shane said.

"The soup is about done, could you set the table Rick?" Michonne requested.

"Sure thing angel face." Rick took the plates from the cabinet and whistled as he set the table.

By the time the table was set and the lunch was done Carl came through the door with Jude asleep in his arms, and Duane, Keisha, and Tamekia in tow.

"Perfect timing as usual." Rick quipped. "Everything is done."

"Would you all like to stay for lunch?" Michonne asked Carl's friends.

"Hell yeah! I'm hungrier than a mug!" Duane exclaimed.

Shane smiled. "I like this kid."

"I'll put Jude down for her nap." Carl told his father.

"You must have wore her out, what did you guys do?'

"We let her splash around in the shallow end of the pool." Keisha explained. "She was so cute she kept pretending to be a dolphin. I swear I want like six kids"

"Don't let your dad hear you say that." Tamekia said.

"I don't mean now." Keisha qualified. "I mean like when I'm old you know like thirty-two."

Rick, Michonne and Shane burst into simultaneous laughter.

"You know." Carl said. "They aren't going to find a cure for this virus any time soon, so before too much longer thirty-two will be considered old."

The bit of sandwich that Rick had just swallowed lodged uncomfortably in his throat. His son seemed too calm in contrast to his friends and the fact it was the anniversary of his mother's death was not helping matters. Carl already seemed resigned about death being his fate. If he couldn't make Carl see the point in living to fight another day then once again he would fail another person he swore to protect with his life, and that scared him more than the pandemic did.

**2**

Carl had spent the majority of his summer doing pointless activities. He, Duane, Keisha and Tamekia had gone through the hotel's lost and found where, among the junk that time had forgotten, they had found a sled that they took turns pulling Jude up and down the hallways on. They had also found a bag full of water balloons that they filled up with water and threw off the roof of the hotel. He had spotted a mama cat with her kittens and he was trying to catch one of the kittens to surprise Michonne with. Tyreese had taught him how to play spades and as it turned out he was really good at the game, but all his freedom and folderol would end soon however with school starting in less than a week. Today there was a back to school meet and greet in the convention center. Carl did not want to go, but his father was making him. His father was still laboring under the misapprehension that a "normal" routine would make him forget that they were living in the last days, but how could he forget when the virus was cutting a wide swath of death across the globe? He knew that eventually the virus would reach them and kill them all, so what was there to be gained by going to school? What did a soon to be walking rotting corpse need with a ninth grade education anyway?

He pushed his coco puffs around in his bowl unable to eat them. He couldn't stop thinking about death. This month marked the third year anniversary of his mother's death and he still missed her as if she had died yesterday. He often wondered where she was, if there was an afterlife was she in a better place, and if she was would he get to see her if he died?

"Come on Carl it's time to go." His father informed him.

Carl got up from the table and dumped his uneaten cereal down the sink.

Someone knocked at the door and his father answered it. Tyreese stood in the doorway and a tall dark skinned woman stood beside him. She was wearing a purple maxi dress, a matching head scarf, and gold bangles on her arms, Carl thought she looked like a queen. She was Keisha's mother, Annalise. Carl had met her before because she'd been the one who dropped Keisha and Tamekia off when ever they'd met up back in Atlanta. It was clear to Carl that Keisha got her good looks from her mother, not that Tyreese was ugly, he was a good looking man, but her mother was stunning. Carl had remembered hearing that Tyreese had married a supermodel, and upon seeing Annalise it was clear that he had heard right.

"Hey Carl." Keisha greeted him.

"Hey Keisha."

Carl thought she looked beautiful. She was wearing a pair of pink shorts, a white halter top, and a pair of laced up espadrilles. She wore a matching pink begonia in her thick, massive, curly hair that fell down around her shoulders.

"You look really, really, nice." He told her. "I like the flower in your hair."

Keisha reached up and touched the begonia. "Aww, thank you Carl." She said with a smile. "You look very nice too."

Behind them Tamekia made kissing noises.

A few moments later Morgan and Duane joined them and the group took the elevator to the seventh floor. The seventh floor was where the catwalk was located, and it was the only way to access the convention center from inside the hotel. There were two soldiers outside of the doors leading into the convention center, and two soldiers outside of the doors leading into the hotel.

The meet and greet was not being held in the same room where they had their first two meetings, and for that Carl was grateful, instead it was being held in one of the ballrooms. Several tables of refreshments had been set up. Another table was set up for the teaching staff. Above the tables was a purple and gray banner hanging from the wall that read: Welcome students of Calbert High School. Home of the Mighty Magpies! Under the words was a picture of a magpie with a fierce look on it's face flexing it's muscular wings as if they were arms. It was the most absurd thing Carl had ever seen and it made him laugh. Who were they trying to fool? They didn't even need a school mascot since they weren't even going to a real school. Ever minute that passed he resented his father a little more for making him come to this stupid meet and greet.

"Let's go get something to drink.' Carl said pointing to the drink table that was on the opposite side of where their parents had congregated.

A girl with red framed glasses stood near one of the tubs of soda. She seemed unable to decide on what she wanted to drink. She kept picking up cans and nodding, and then shaking her head and putting them back in the tub of ice only to pick them back up again.

"Oh man I don't believe it." Duane said. "There go Brady and Brandon."

"Who?" Tamekia asked.

"Those twins over their by the snack table eating all the chips."

"You know them?" Carl asked. He'd never seen any one his age as huge as the twins were. They were both tall and massive their necks looked like hams and their shoulders were twice as broad as Carl's. Their hands were so huge they probably could have crushed his skull with them.

"Yeah, we go to the same school. They're on the wrestling team, and I'm in gymnastics. They be spending all their time in the weight room.

"No shit." Carl said then pounded his chest. "Twins Strong! Twins smash!"

Duane started laughing and Carl did too, until Brady and Brandon looked up simultaneously and glared at them.

Carl waved and smiled sheepishly. He wanted to make sure to stay on their good side.

"The steroid twins are gonna murk you." Tamekia sang.

"Well at least they'll spare me from dying from this virus."

"Don't say that!" The girl with the red framed glasses said and then crossed herself. "You'll speak it into life."

"What?''

"My dad says if you talk about bad things it puts it out there and you'll speak them into life."

"I don't know if you've been paying attention to the news or not, but the virus is already out there." Carl replied.

The girl stuck her lower lip out. "You're mean!"

"Sara get over here!'

"But dad."

"Now! Don't make me have to repeat myself."

"I have to go." Sarah said and went over to her father with her head hanging down.

"What was that all about?" Carl asked.

"I don't know, but she seems for a lack of a better word, sensitive, we should all be nice to her." Keisha told him.

Carl nodded. Sometimes Keisha made him feel resentful because she was so charismatic and outgoing. Everyone loved her, and even if her dad hadn't been famous he knew they would still love her. Even his father thought she was the sweetest girl. He wondered what it would be like to be adored by everyone instead of being that sulking awkward teenager that just made everyone uncomfortable. His mother had always understood that part of him better than his father had, and it made him sad to think there was a level that they would never connect on. Even now they had completely different outlooks on the Cadere virus situation. His father had turned into some warped version of Captain America who thought he could save everything and everyone he loved with a positive attitude. Perhaps that's what had bothered him so much about Sarah, she was just like his father thinking you could simply speak things into fruition. He had stopped believing in such nonsense the day his mother took her life, and took part of him with her. Fairy tales were for children. He no longer believed in fairy tales. He no longer believed in distracting himself from the cold hard truths of this world, and try as he might he didn't believe that his father could protect him.

At the front of the ballroom a tall balding man blew into a cordless mic which groaned in protest. The man gave a short laugh. "Hello everyone. I'm Principal Andrew Henderson, and now that I've got all of your attention please be seated, and I'll get things underway"

From across the room Carl's father motion for him to come sit next to Jude. Carl went over without protest as there didn't seem to be much point in resisting.

"I know this isn't exactly anyone's ideal situation to kick off a new school year, but that's no reason why we can't make this the best year ever! We have the best teachers in the whole world right here who are ready to provide you with a solid education, and smaller classes means more individual focus on your child. We promise that we're going to do everything in our power to make your transition to Calbert High as seamless as possible. Our curriculum will not only include all the things you have been learning, but will also include things to help you deal with current issues brought about because of the virus "

"See Carl." His father whispered. "Things won't be so bad after all."

He wished his father could see things his way and try and understand why it was he didn't want to spend the last days of his life stuck in a classroom. It was like his father didn't even know who he was at all sometimes. Shane had said that he'd rather take his chances on the streets, and Carl would too. It was better to be out on the streets than caged up like lab rats waiting on their inevitable death sentence.

**3**

Michonne lie awake thinking. Rick's arms were wrapped around her and his soft rhythmic breathing in her ear told her that he was still asleep. They had been sharing a bed for over two months now, but they still had not had sex and Michonne knew that was because of Lori. This month was the anniversary of her death, and Michonne wanted to be their for both Rick and Carl but she didn't know how. Rick didn't talk about Lori often and Michonne didn't feel it was her place to force him too, when he was ready he'd would open up about her. There were still things she hadn't told Rick, and nothing but time and getting to know him better would make her open up. He didn't know about her two best friends, Andrea and Cesar, who had been killed in the school shooting. It was just too painful to talk about.

Sometimes she worried that she would always be playing second fiddle to Lori and that always made her feel shallow and guilty. She knew that Rick and Carl would always love Lori more, or at least and a different way than her. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if she would be enough, or would Rick always be comparing her to his wife? It was the last thing in the world she needed to be worried about right now, but these were the thoughts that kept her up at night and not the virus. She looked over at the alarm clock it was five thirty in the morning. There was no point in going back to sleep Judith would be up soon looking for breakfast.

Her grandmother had always said that busy work was the best cure for a busy mind. She took a box of pancake mix from the cabinet and set it on the counter and then got the milk from the fridge.

"Mimi I hungry." Judith said padding into the kitchen.

Michonne smiled. Children had a way of making you set your priorities straight; in fact Carl and Judith depended on her having her priorities straight. If something were to, heaven forbid, happen to Rick his children would be looking to her to take care of them. Now more than ever she was grateful for her family who kept her grounded in the wake of impending doom. Taking care of Rick, Carl, and Judith filled an empty void in her life that had been there for quite some time.

Michonne turned around and faced Judith. "Well I'm about to make us all some pancakes, would you like to help?"

Judith nodded.

A few moments later Rick walked into the kitchen with his hair disheveled. "Morning angel face." He said kissing her on the lips. "Morning Jude." He bent down to kiss his daughter.

Judith laughed. "Daddy you beard tickles."

"I'm sorry." Rick said. "How about if I tickle you instead." He said and began tickling her all over.

Michonne grimed broadly. She loved the way Rick was trying to remain in such high spirits despite the weight of the world dragging him down, but she just hoped that he would open up to her. She did not want him to think he had to keep everything bottled up inside just to hold all of them together. They had both decided that where Judith was involved that she wouldn't have to know any more about the virus then she had too, but even when they were alone he seem to afraid to let his guard down as if he thought he had to be constantly vigilant, but she worried what that kind of sacrifice might do to him in the long run.

"They're posting the results of the civilian employment today, I thought after breakfast we go see if we've been gainfully employed or not."

"That sounds like a plan." Michonne said and flipped over a pancake on the griddle.

Carl came into the kitchen a few minutes later.

Michonne worried about him too, just like his father he was keeping what ever feelings he had about the anniversary of his mother's death inside. Getting the Grimes men to talk about their emotions was like pulling hen's teeth. They were stubborn to a fault, well she could be just as stubborn and she was going to help them through this come hell or high water. After breakfast she got Judith dressed and then herself and they took the elevator to the convention center.

Just as Rick had predicted Michonne got the job running the daycare, and he and Shane got jobs as patrolmen, and as much as Michonne cared for Rick she was extremely happy that she got the job. She didn't want to get to the place where she and Rick spent so much time together that she started to hate all those little things she found so adorable about him. Like the way he sang off key to the songs on the radio getting all the words wrong. Or the way he sounded when he called her angel face. The way his long bow legs looked in a pair of jeans, and how he didn't seem to mind that she stole all the covers, and then retaliated by stealing bacon of her plate in the morning when he thought she wasn't looking. It was all the little things that made up a relationship. It was all the little things that made it seem possible to get over the big hurdles.

Staff Sargent Deann Monroe gave Michonne a tour of the Peach Blossom daycare center which was located on the first floor of the hotel. Sargent Monroe seemed like a fair no nonsense kind of woman, and Michonne was sure there wasn't anything that got past her.

"Out of everyone that applied you were the most qualified, she informed Michonne, and you passed the background check with flying colors. We're running a tight ship here and there isn't a I we forget to dot or a T we forget to cross.

Michonne nodded Staff Sargent Monroe left room to say little else.

"The daycare runs from eight to four thirty, and most of the parents who dropped their children off should have picked them up by then, the very latest I want this place open by is six o clock. Most of the civilian jobs will have ended by that hour."

Michonne nodded again.

"You'll have about eight children in your care and I don't think I have to spend a lot of time telling you your duties as a daycare teacher, you've done this job before and I'm sure that you can do it much better than I. I'm just here to act as your supervisor and field any complaints should they arise." She handed Michonne a thick packet that had a dossier of each of the children she be looking after. "The daycare center won't be open for another week, so I expect that you'll take that home and read it until you know all the information in there forwards and backwards."

"Yes, of course I will." Michonne agreed.

"Good. You can meet me back here tomorrow at zero eight hundred hours and I'll show you everything else that you need to know."

"I'll be here right on time."

"Good, because if there is one thing I don't tolerate it's tardiness."

Michonne left the daycare center wondering if she should have taken the job in the first place. She was sure that she could handle Deann, but the question was did she want to? She had enough problems of her own to be dealing with. Then the thought of Judith being left with a total stranger crossed her mind and she knew she was doing the right thing. She would never feel completely safe here, not with all the military presence around she was still not sure if they were here to save them or not. She wanted to talk to Rick about it, but she wasn't sure if it was something that he would want to talk about or not.

"So how did it go?' Rick asked when she got back to their apartel.

"Staff Sargent Monroe seems like one tough cookie, but I suppose that is what you want in someone who's supervising the running of a daycare."

Rick took Judith from her and put her in a seat at the kitchen table. "It is."

"How about you?"

Rick grinned. "They gave us the hotel's security jeep to drive around in during our patrol."

"Just be careful Rick, I only just got you back. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be careful I promise and Shane will be with me. We've got each others backs. It will all work out you'll see."

Michonne hoped that Rick was right, because she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure about anything including her future with Rick after everything was said and done. They had proved that they could survive some of life's biggest crisis, but what if or when things got back to normal, would they be able to handle that? Could they just be an ordinary couple? That was another thought to keep her tossing and turning at night.

"What's wrong can't sleep?" Rick asked.

Michonne nearly jumped out of her skin because she had thought he was sleeping.

"It's nothing go back to sleep."

"How can I with you flopping like a fish over there?"

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

Too late Michonne thought.

Rick reached over and gently took Michonne by the shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing him in the darkness. "I took Lori for granted, and I don't want to do that to you Michonne. Everyday I count my blessings that you found us. Rick said. it's been hard trying to look after Carl and Judith by myself, but you've stepped right in and filled in where my wife left off, and for that Lori would be so thankful.I know that I am, and I'm going to prove it to you by keeping us all safe. I've been given a second chance at having a family and I'm not going to squander it."

Michonne closed her eyes. Maybe Rick was right despite everything that had happened the four of them were still alive and still together. The world always did have survivors, and they were pretty good at that. Perhaps they would make it out of this alive.


	10. Chapter 10 Things are Getting Worse but

This story is **Highly AU **and told from the perspective of Michonne, Rick and Carl. It doesn't follow the TV series, game, or the comics in any particular order, and though there are characters from the show, game, and comics I've changed them up and rearranged things to fit my story. Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed, but in the immortal words of Erykah Badu:_ Keep in mind that I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit._

** 10\. Things are Getting Worse but I feel A Lot Better  
**

Rick struggled with the literal dead weight on top of him. He breathed through his nose, but nothing could prevent the fetid odor of death that invaded his nostrils. Above him the undead body continued to act like a living one and tried to bite him. It's toothless mouth opened and closed like a baby bird crying for it's dinner, in this case Rick.

"Come on Rick show that rotten fucker who's on top of the food chain." Shane shouted.

One of Rick's arms was pinned underneath him and the other was wedge between him and the "rotten fucker" but he still had the use of his legs. He kicked the body off to the side and then managed to scramble atop it. Freeing his buck knife from his utility belt he held it securely in his hand before plunging it skull deep into the biters head.

"Not bad Grimes." Master Sargent David Wolf said.

Rick wiped a shaky hand across his forehead. He had thought that his physical therapist, Sven, was a sadistic fuck, but he had nothing on the army who'd made him feel like a just spit out piece of gum that someone had stepped on. When the army told him he'd have to attend a two week boot camp before he started his job as a patrolman he figured it would be a basic refresher course in what he learned in police academy, plus a few extra military maneuvers he might not know. Instead it'd been a highly intense course on how to kill undead virus victims. Two weeks ago he knew next to nothing about what the army referred to as biters and he wished that he could go back to that place. So many innocent people had been turned into walking virus incubators, men, women, children, and the army had him put all of them down. Killing a child had been the hardest for Rick. He knew that the little boy that he had "killed" had been dead for a long time and he could not feel pain, but it was still a child underneath all that rotten flesh.

Today was their last day of boot camp and they were just running through basic maneuvers. He watched as Shane easily killed his biter.

"Excellent execution Walsh." The Master Sargent called. Shane was at the top of the class and never seemed to struggle with a kill the way that Rick did, but Shane had always shone brighter than him.

After class was officially dismissed for the last time Rick and the rest of the recruits headed to the locker room to shower, change out of their camos, and into their street clothes.

"Man I feel like a whipped piece of shit." Shane said as he pulled on his Atlanta Falcon's t-shirt.

"That's a hell of a lot better than what I feel like." Rick replied.

"Yeah, well I'm going to have Layla give me a full body massage."

"Who?"

"That spunky little red headed masseuse I was talking to yesterday."

"Oh." In high school Shane was Mr. Popularity and Rick was Mr. Nice Guy, but at least he hadn't finished last. He had a beautiful woman and a family to go home to every night, and Shane was still popular. Rick always saw a different woman leaving his room in the mornings. Somethings never changed.

"Ya should get your little woman to give ya a massage, Shane said looking him up and down, ya look like ya could use a happy ending."

"Hey man fuck you!"

"Pour a few drinks down me and I just might." Shane responded.

"I'll see you later asshole." Rick called out good-naturedly. When he dragged his sweaty exhausted body through his front door the first person he saw was Michonne. She was sitting on the couch going over plans for her job at the daycare. She was talking softly to herself and highlighting things on a piece of paper with a marker. Her locs were pulled up on the top of her head in a bun, but one in the front had escaped and bounced off of her cheekbone every time she moved her head. He hated that he was going to have to ruin her serenity with what he had to tell her.

"Is Carl here?" Rick asked.

"No, he took Judith swimming, why?"

"Good, I need to talk to you." He took her papers and marker from her and set them on the cushion beside her, and then he grabbed her by the hands and lifted her to a stand.

Michonne's eyebrows instantly knitted together in concern. "Rick what is it?"

Instead of answering her Rick led her to the bedroom, locked the door behind him, and then sat her down on the bed. "I don't want Carl or Judith walking in on us."

"You're scaring me Rick." Michonne said. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"At boot camp they taught us how to kill people infected with the virus. " Rick's heart was beating frantically in his chest as he spoke. It was like everything he'd done for the past two weeks in boot camp, and everything he'd seen was real now because he was telling someone else.

"What?" Michonne took a wide step backwards bumped into the edge of the mattress and sat down on it.

"I don't mean people who are living with the virus, I mean people who have turned, like the person I hit with my car. The army calls them biters and that is what the two week boot camp was all about."

"They've got infected people here? What if they get out? What if one had bitten you?"

"They're not people, they're not alive,-

"They're not dead either!"

'They're corpses. They are the walking dead Michonne, that's all they are. I swear"

"Should you even be telling me this?"

"Yes. Most of the people inside of this Q.U.A.D. have seen a biter, and those who haven't know someone who has. It's the people outside these walls they don't want knowing."

"Why though?' Michonne asked. "Why wouldn't they want people to know?"

"They're afraid of what people will do." Rick told her. "They're afraid of all the people with a stockade of guns who have been waiting for something like this to happen. The police and military are already stretched thin dealing with the fallout from this, the last thing they want to deal with is a bunch of doomsday preppers going out and using this virus as an excuse to kill whoever they want."

"So where did these people- biters come from?

"The USAMRIID supplies the bodies.

Michonne leaned forward. "So the army is keeping those things here. I feel sick."

"Their finger nails are capped and their teeth have been removed so they can't scratch or bite. They aren't a real danger to anyone."

"It still seems so dangerous and irresponsible." Michonne replied.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but the biters are kept in the convention center and they're always on lock down and guarded. Now that I know how to take them out we'll be safer."

"Rick are you sure you want to do this?" Michonne asked. "I know I can't tell you what to do, but Rick you were just shot and you didn't even get to finish your physical therapy, please think twice about taking this job. I don't want you getting hurt again."

"I have to do this Michonne, it's the best way i know how to protect our family. I want to be prepared in case something pops off in here. Shane and I are going to teach Tyreese and Morgan how to kill biters too, and I want you to learn"

Michonne shook her head. "No! I'm not a warrior Rick, I don't think I could kill a person even if they are dead."

"Today is the anniversary of Lori's death and if I were to die today you would be all Carl and Jude have. You're like their mother and they'll need you to keep loving and taking care of them if I can't. Do it forthem, please."

"All right Rick, I'll do it. I'll do it."

"What's happening to these people Is a fate worse than fucking death we're doing them a favor."

"I'm not ready for all of this to be quite so real."

"Look at it this way we'll have something of an advantage when the walls come tumbling down."

"I swear I think they're just trying to kill you." Michonne said.

Rick laid back and stared up at the ceiling. "Nah, It's just boot camp was easier when I was younger and before I got shot." He assured Michonne who had been worrying about him, so much so apparently, that she thought he was on his last leg.

"If you feel up to it come to the table for dinner, if not I'll bring you dinner in bed."

"I'm not decrepit Michonne I can make it to the dinner table."

"I was just trying to be nice." Michonne informed Rick as she straddled him. "I won't ever make that mistake again."

Rick wrapped his arms around Michonne's waist. "Good. I like it when you're mean to me. Now teach me a lesson Ms. Mitchell, I've been bad."

Michonne began to unbutton his t-shirt. "Just remember this is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me." She teased and yanked off his belt.

The front door of their apartel opened and slammed a second later. Rick heard his son shouting.

'I'm never taking you swimming again." Carl raged.

"I'm telling daddy!" Jude screamed. "Daddy!" She yelled from outside of the bedroom door.

"Move out of the way Jude I'm talking to dad first." Carl interrupted.

"Oh great it's the little cockblockers." Rick groaned and closed his eyes.

Michonne smacked Rick's bare chest. "Don't call them that!"

"Oh what you've never thought the same thing?"

"I plead the fifth." Michonne said and buttoned up Rick's shirt.

"Dad I have to talk to you." Carl insisted from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming." Rick said. "Or I would have been if you hadn't interrupted us." He added so that only Michonne could hear.

"You're wrong for that." Michonne replied.

He went out into the living room. "What is it you need to talk to me about so urgently?" Rick asked.

"Do you know what she did?" He asked pointing to his little sister. "She took off her bathing suit and then her swim diaper and started running around the pool naked!"

"Carl yelled at me and called me stupid. "You not my brudder."Jude screamed.

"I did not." Carl said to Jude and then turned to his father. "I told her it was stupid to throw her diaper in the fountain at the kiddie pool, I didn't even tell you that part! She threw her diaper in the kiddie fountain, and the diaper clogged it up! I had to fish it out while the idiot lifeguard there yelled at me!"

Michonne, who'd come out the bedroom, had to turn her head to hide the laugh that had bubbled up inside of her.

"Carl she's only two."

"That's what you always say!" It's not fair that I have to share my room with a toddler, can't I move in with Shane?"

"No you can't move in with Shane, we're a family and we stay together." Rick snapped at his son. Jude held her arms out to be picked up and he obliged.

"Well can I at least sleep in the living room then?"

"No. You know your sister is too scared to sleep in that big room all by herself."

"I don't want to keep sharing a room with Jude it's undignified." Carl complained.

Rick took a deep calming breath. "Carl sharing a room with your little sister is not the end of the world, what's going on outside is."

"What does that even mean?" Carl asked.

"The answer is no and that's the end of it!" Rick shouted.

"I fucking hate this damn place." Carl shouted at his father and then threw himself down on the couch and turned on the TV.

Rick set his daughter down. "Go in the kitchen and draw me a picture with your crayons, OK." Rick told her, and then led Michonne gently by the arms back into their bedroom and shut the door behind him.

"I know why he's really mad. I haven't talked about Lori's death because on top of everything else my son has been through I thought it might overwhelm him."

"What do you usually do on this day?" Michonne asked.

"Do? Besides acknowledge what the day is we do nothing. We try and forget all about it."

"You should remember, the good things I mean. We're all so far away from everything familiar, we don't know how most of our scattered loved ones are doing, and the world feels like it could end any second, memories are important now more than ever. They're one of the only things left that can't be taken away from us. Tomorrow take time to remember the good things about Lori."

Rick peeked out his door at his son who was balled up angrily on the couch staring at the TV with a blank expression on his face, yet Rick knew that Carl felt anything but blank inside. When things got too tough Carl shut people out. He had taught Carl that, just like his father had taught him. He sighed now was a good of time as any to break the cycle.

'I've got a scrapbook Lori made it's full of pictures if he feels up to it maybe we can all look at it together."

"You're a good father Rick."

"You're a good mother Michonne." Rick countered.

"Couldn't do it without you."

"You can , and you will if you have to."

"Are you sure you have to take this job Rick?"

"To protect my family, yes, yes I do. You didn't see those things not the way I did. biters only exist to make other biters. Biting and rotting away slowly that's their life. I'm not going to let that happen to my family, not if I can do something about it."

"Why did I have to fall in love with a Southern gentleman?"

"So you're in love with me then?"

"I am, but you knew that already."

"I did, but it's OK because I love you too. Now come on let's go make sure our children haven't killed each other yet."

Michonne smiled broadly when Rick said "our" children.

They went into the kitchen and as Michonne began to set the table Rick stood over Judith's shoulder to see what she was drawing.

"You drew me a monster. How scary!" Rick said.

"It's not a monster it's Carl. He not my brudder anymore. " Jude reminded her father.

Rick inspected the picture closer, Jude who showed signs of artistic talent, had captured Carl's angry expression surprisingly well. She had added dripping fangs, a unibrow, and hairy claws. Rick laughed there was nothing else to do.

Michonne looked at the picture and laughed too. The sound of their laughter drew Carl into the kitchen.

"Is that supposed to be me?" Carl asked when he saw the picture. His son had to grin in spite of himself.

"You mean!" Jude told her brother.

"I'm sorry Jude, do you forgive me?"

"OK." Jude chirped. She never held grudges for very long.

"Well now that we've all made up why don't we sit down for dinner." Michonne suggested.

It wasn't until Carl sat down that he noticed the scrapbook that Michonne had set on his plate. Lori never believed in storing pictures on the computer, she left that up to Carl, instead she made scrapbooks that she filled up with pictures. Every holiday, every birthday, every vacation. Every milestone in their life had some kind of scrapbook to accompany it.

Rick sat down beside Carl and flipped open the scrapbook. The first photos were of their vacation to Hilton Head when Carl was six years old. He remembered how Carl kept trying to run into the ocean and how Lori kept pulling him away from the shore. "You were so damn determined to drown yourself that year." He told his son.

"I remember."

There were pictures of the family at Marchetti's the only pizza place in Possum Holler. They had gone there when Carl's ittle league team and won their baseball tournament.

"Mrs. Marchetti still has that picture of us holding our little league trophy hanging up at her shop. She never spoke badly about mom." Carl said.

Michonne, who had Jude in her arms, sat on the other side of Carl. "You have her smile." She noted.

"Everyone tells me that."

Rick looked at Lori's face searching for the parts of Carl that looked like her. He had his mother's chin and cheekbones.

"It's momma!" Jude cried and touched the picture.

"That's right sweetie it's your momma." Rick said in a tear strained voice. He was shocked that Jude recognize her mother. He looked at photos of Lori so infrequently that he didn't think that she would. He wished that Jude could have known her mother more, seeing her in pictures or videos just wasn't the same. He sighed his heart felt heavy, but it did not feel like it would crush him as it usually did this time of year.

The last picture was of Lori holding Judith the day she was born.

"Hey look Jude that's you." Carl told his sister.

Jude looked at the picture and frowned. "I not a baby!"

"Not now, but you were." Michonne told her.

Rick was glad when he had reached the end of the scrapbook. Seeing those pictures was what he needed, but you could overdose on nostalgia. His past had been tragic yes, but he no longer felt guilty about moving on. He didn't have time to feel guilty anymore. His new family was just beginning as the world was just ending, and every moment he spent dwelling in the past was a lost moment in the future. Michonne was right memories mattered more now than ever, and since they were one of the only things they had left that couldn't be taken away, Rick knew he needed to work hard to create enough good memories to see them through the dark times ahead.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Rick and Shane were out on their first patrol of the hotel grounds. If Rick closed his eyes he could have sworn they were back in their patrol car in Possum Holler shooting the shit.

"I told Michonne about the biters

"Really, and how did she take it?" Shane wanted to know.

"She was freaked out at first, but that's completely understandable."

"Can't see Michonne killing biters. She doesn't even like guns, what about Carl ya tell him?"

Rick looked at Shane like he was insane. "No, and I don't intend to. He doesn't need to know and he sure as hell isn't going to be killing any of those things."

"Let me tell you something." Shane began.

Rick braced himself a Shane Walsh verbal beat down always followed those words.

"Things are only gonna get harder from here on out, and if ya want Carl to survive this he's eventually gonna have to do shit a lot harder than killin biters, so you best pull your head outta of your fuckin ass for your family's sake."

"You think it's so fucking easy don't you? I know what's happening out there will eventually come in here, but I can't use that as an excuse to go all vigilante. I know Carl is gonna see some shit, but I can't turn him into a child soldier" Rick said. "Now is the time to hang on to our humanity we're gonna need it."

"Damn it Rick stop acting like a flower child! Ya got kids and a woman to think about. When someone has your back against the wall their ain't no humanity. I promised you that I'd protect your family with my life if anything ever happens to ya, but that don't mean ya get to check out before the real shit even hits the fan."

"That's your way not mines, and I'll protect my family my way and not yours so don't try and psychoanalyze me I'm not in the fucking mood."

Shane slammed his body back into his seat. They had been friends for so long that he knew when it was pointless to keep on arguing.

Rick started the SUV up and began their patrol around the perimeter of the hotel. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Just the silent flat black endless night. The way the world kept on doing it's thing without skipping a beat while the entire human race could be wiped out by something smaller than the head of a pin made Rick realize how insignificant they all were. The SUV's radio was tuned to a twenty-four hour government news feed. The announcer was reporting that an estimated seven percent of the world's population had died due to the Cadere virus and there were no signs of the rapidly spreading virus slowing down. The pandemic was like a huge monster attacking the city and Rick could feel it moving towards them.

"So you really think it's going to be that easy?' Rick asked breaking the awkward silence. "What we did in boot camp will be a lot different than what we have to do out here. Do you really think it's going to be that easy to just kill them?" He asked thinking of the little boy he killed. He couldn't have been more than five years old. Only a few years older than Jude.

"They ain't living to begin with so yeah."

"What if we run into someone who's sick with the virus but hasn't turned yet, do we Just put them down too?"

Shane looked at Rick smiled and then made his hand into the shape of a gun. "Bang, bang." He said pointing his imaginary gun at Rick's head and pulling the trigger.

2

Carl did not want to get out of bed. He lie face down in his pillow and listened to the sound of the alarm clock on his cell phone buzzing like a swarming hive of angry bees. Today was the first day of school and he was not looking forward to it. He thought of his two best friends Kevin and Roy Wayne Paul and hoped that they were still alive. Yesterday had been the anniversary of his mother's death and that got him thinking about everyone who wasn't with him now. Were is grandparents dead? His uncle Jeffery? He didn't know and he didn't like to think about it. There was nothing he could change by wondering, and besides he still hadn't picked out what he was going to wear to school. Most of his clothes were between his house and Shane's, so he picked out his newest t-shirt and his newest pair of shorts. He jumped into the shower where the water pressure was a joke. He didn't bother to style his hair he just ran a comb through it and let it dry on it's own. He walked out into the living room and could smell bacon frying on the stove from the kitchen.

"Morning Carl." Michonne greeted him.

"Morning Michonne."

Judith was already at the kitchen table coloring."I want to go to school with you."

"You can't." Carl told her.

"Why?"

"You're going to play school with me remember?" Michonne reminded her.

"You come to play school with me Carl." His little sister demanded.

"I'm too old Jude, sorry.'" He gulped down his orange juice and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"Use a napkin." Michonne said.

Carl managed to not sigh and wiped his mouth off with a napkin.

"Are you nervous?" Michonne asked tipping bacon on to his plate.

"Not really. None of this feels real. Nothing really has since I've come here."

"I think we all feel like that to some degree. Things like this are only supposed to happen on TV, and when they happen in real life we have no proper reaction for them." Michonne explained.

"Everything just seems so fake. It's a paradox, we're alive but we're not living. " Carl said.

"I see you paid attention in my class. You're very smart Carl and I know you don't want to go to school, but promise me you'll try your best in all your classes even if you think school is pointless."

"OK." Carl said.

"Better get a move on. You don't want to be late for your first day."

"Neither do the two of you." Carl reminded her. He grabbed up his school supplies that been provided by the government and put them into his backpack that had also been supplied by the government. He kissed his sister on the cheek. "Bye Jude, be good in school."

"You too." Jude told him.

Carl grinned and rinsed his dishes off and put them in the sink. "I'll see ya." He called out to Michonne.

His friends were waiting for Carl outside of his apartel. He noticed that Duane was dressed as causally as he was, but Keisha and Tamekia were dressed like they'd just stepped off a runway. Now he wished he'd put a little more effort into his hair and outfit.

"Carl where's your badge?" Keisha asked.

Carl stopped in the middle of the hallway and felt around for his badge. He had to have his badge. It would be scanned at the beginning and end of the school day to prove that he had attended. Carl didn't know what happen to you if you skipped school but it seemed impossible anyway

"Shit, I must have left it on my dresser." Sighing he turned around to go get his badge. "Go ahead without me I'll catch up." He raced back down the hallway ran into his room and grabbed his badge. As he made his way back towards the elevators he didn't see any other students and began to wonder if maybe he was late. He started walking faster he didn't want to be late on his first day. The thought made him break out into a sprint and he would have ran straight through the catwalk, but he saw Sarah and her father standing in there talking to the principal, Mr. Henderson. They were speaking in hushed tones, but Carl could still hear them.

"As you can tell my daughter is not like other fifteen year olds. Even before the outbreak she suffered with anxiety." Sarah's father was saying to Mr. Henderson. "Sarah witnessed her mother turn and attack her little brother. As a result the national guard was forced to killed both of them right in front of her. Sarah became so hysterical afterwards that she was inconsolable. I had to sedate her to keep her from hurting herself and when she woke up she was different. I noticed that she started acting very childlike, wanting to play with dolls and refusing to sleep by herself. She can't or won't accept that her mother and brother are dead so she tells everyone that they are visiting her grandmother."

"I'm so sorry Carlos." Mr. Henderson said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I go along with Sarah because If she knew how bad the world is out there she would cease to function. The psychiatrist here told me that Sarah's PTSD has cause her to regress into a childlike state. She acts more like an eight year old. If I can't attend classes with Sarah I need to know that you will be looking after her at all times. All times."

"Of course. I've already talked to the teachers about Sarah's delicate situation."

"Remember this is only a trial basis. If I find any reason at all to pull Sarah out of school I won't hesitate." Carlos said to Mr. Henderson.

"Of course."

"You be good in school for daddy, OK. sweetie." Carlos said turning to his daughter and giving her a hug and kiss.

"I will daddy." Sarah said.

When the trio had gone Carl went through the catwalk and got on the elevator. He felt badly for how he'd talked to Sarah earlier. She had lost her mom too, not only her mom but her brother as well and in the most horrific way possible.

As he stepped out of the catwalk he saw Tamekia and waved. She saw him and she waved back.

Other students were standing around talking in small groups.

"Are you excited?" Keisha asked. "I know you probably think it's silly, but I'm actually excited!"

"I just don't see the point." Carl said.

Keisha put her hand on her hip. "You sound just like Tameika."

"Well then he sounds like somebody with some damn sense." Tamekia replied.

"At least it will give us something to do." Duane said. "It's starting to feel like The Shinning in here."

"I know right." Keisha said. "All we do is stay in this damn hotel waiting to die it's like we forgot how to live, well I want to liiiiive damn it, liiiiive!" Keisha cried dramatically.

Tamekia rolled her eyes. "Don't sit next to me. "

"As if I would sit amongst the peasantry, Keisha said, I'm sitting next to Sir Grimes."

"More like Sir Grimey." Tamekia shot back.

Before Carl could think of a come back Mr. Henderson began speaking."It's good to see all of your bright, young, and eager faces. He greeted them.

Carl looked around at everyone's listless and vapid expressions. Oh yeah, they looked bright and eager all right.

"I'll bet you're all dying to checkout your new school." Mr. Henderson said and pushed the button for the elevator a few seconds later the doors pinged open. "Come on, come on, don't be shy we'll all fit." Mr. Henderson assured them as he ushered them onto the elevator like a hen clucking after her chicks.

Their "school" was just one big room, and it reminded Carl of a high school on the set of a teenaged sit-com because there were only twelve desks, an actual chalkboard, and a wooden desk that looked like every other teacher's desk he'd ever seen. According to his schedule his first class of the day was history.

"Sit where you'd like there's no assigned seats here." Principal Henderson told them. "Your history teacher will be here shortly."

The desk were arranged six desk on each side with a row down the middle. True to her word Keisha sat next to Carl and Duane and Tamekia sat behind them so that it would be easier to talk to each other. Sarah sat on the other side of Keisha and a girl with blonde hair sat on the other end of Tamekia.

The boy in the seat in the row directly across from Carl was carving something into his desk with an X-Acto knife. He saw Carl looking at him flicked him off and then went back to carving into his desk.

"I'm Mr. Royce and I will be your history teacher."

"He looks just like my uncle, Duane whispered in his ear, same tall ass teeth and everything."

Mr. Royce, who did have some rather large teeth, began taking roll call. When he was finished he began writing on the chalkboard "Who's ever heard of The Plague of Athens?" He asked.

A tall boy wearing his high school's jacket, who Carl now knew was Ben Paul, hand shot up.

"It was a plague that happened around 430 b.c., and it's thought to be the earliest recorded pandemic in history." He said.

"Correct. In this class we'll be going over how epidemics and pandemic have changed the course of human history." Mr. Royce told them.

School turned out to be like nothing that Carl had expected. He had all of his regular classes, but it was what he was learning in his classes that made it so different from regular school. In science he was learning how to make small generators. In English he was reading eyewitness accounts of people who lived through pandemics and keeping his own journal. In health he was learning CPR and first-aid. There were even two classes that were mandated by the government. Horticulture and Environmental Preparedness.

Horticulture was held on the convention center grounds by a huge green house and a garden plot. It was taught by a young college student named Shawn Greene, all of the girls in the class thought he was cute.

"Hi I'm Mr. Greene, but please call me Shawn. I'll be your horticulture teacher and in my class we'll be growing an organic fruit and vegetable garden. Everything we grow here we'll eat here, and if times get any harder this maybe the only food we have to eat, so let's make the best garden we can, OK."

Shawn had them divide up into three groups of four and each take a section of the garden plot he'd already laid out to work. All of their gardening supplies were kept in a shed, and like everything else had government issued and a serial number stamped across it.

Having worked on his grandfather's horse farm and having helped both his grandma and mother out in their gardens Carl took right to gardening.

Tamekia hated everything to do with gardening. She hated the dirt, the worms, and when Shawn told her she had to shovel manure she flat out refused.

"I don't fling poo for anyone." She told him.

Shawn had just laughed and let her put wiring around the rabbit run instead.

Keisha didn't like it any better than her cousin did, but she lived with a father who had drilled the idea of teamwork in to her head and so she did it, even if she did make a face that looked like she had just sucked a lemon. Duane was just happy to have something to do. Out of everyone Carl thought that Duane hated being cooped up in the hotel the most.

After class the were allowed to wash up and go to lunch. Their lunchroom was in the food court and their lunches were standard school lunches.

Carl carried his tray of suspicious looking chicken fried stake to the table.

"I wish we hadn't of watched that video about the black plague." Keisha said looking down at her tray. "All I see when I look at this chicken is a puss filled bubo."

Tamekia dropped her fork. "Really, Kiki?"

"I'm sorry! I'm a very visual person."

"Next time keep your visions to yourself."

Carl wondered if he and Jude would act the way Keisha and Tamekia did if they were closer in age. The cousins carried on all the time but they acted as close as sisters. Right now his sister mostly followed him around and got in his things.

"Can I sit next to you?" Sarah asked Keisha.

"Sure."

"Thank you!" Sarah cried. "I wanted to sit next to you because your dress is so pretty. Do you like my charm bracelet? My mom got it for me for my quinceanera." She held up her wrist so that Keisha could see the bracelet.

"It's beautiful." She told her.

"Can we be friends?" Sarah asked.

"Of course, we're already friends."

"Goody!" Sarah cried clapping her hands and hugging Keisha.

"Goody!" The boy that had been carving into his desk earlier cried mocking Sarah's childish voice. Carl had heard him answer to the name Jeremy Tramer during roll call.

Sarah's mouth fell open and she turned to look at Jeremy as if she'd never seen anyone so rude in her life.

Jeremy mocked Sarah's opened mouth expression. "Hurr durr I'm fifteen and I lezz on thirteen-year-olds." He said.

Sarah's face crumpled and her lips trembled.

Carl could see that she was going to start crying any minute now.

"Leave her alone." Keisha said and put a protective arm around Sarah's shoulder.

"Sorry didn't mean to insult your mentally unstable girlfriend."

"Grow up!" Keisha snapped.

"Forget about him. He's a pathetic loser looking for attention." Carl said loudly.

"You wish kid. You're not going to be able to forget me. I guarantee that!"

Carl sighed just what he needed. The rest of his classes went smoothly until their last class of the day. Environmental Preparedness. There was nothing wrong with the class itself, Carl actually liked the class. It was like a cross between science lab and the survival skills course he'd taken at summer camp. Their very first project was to make water filters with a plastic bottle, charcoal, and rocks. . By the end of class everyone but Sarah had theirs completed. Sarah had started hers but then kept getting up to inspect everyone else's handiwork and didn't have time to finish her own.

"I hope I don't get an F." She lamented as she began to clean up her work station. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no!" She cried.

"What's wrong?" Tamekia asked.

"My charm bracelet it's gone!" She shouted. "I took it off when I was making my filter and now it's gone!"

"Don't worry we'll help you look for it." Keisha reassured her.

"Where's the last place you remember having it?" Duane asked.

"On my desk. I laid it on my desk because I didn't want it to get bangged up.

Carl and everyone in the class looked but could not find Sarah's charm bracelet.

"My mom is going to be so angry when she finds out."

"Your mom not here in this Q.U.A.D.?" Jermery asked. "That probably means she dead then. So your bracelet doesn't matter after all."

Sarah burst into tears and Keisha walked her home.

'Too bad about Sarah's bracelet." Jeremy said as he watched her going across the catwalk with Keisha. "Maybe if she wasn't such a 'tard she'd remember where she put it."

"Or maybe you stole it." Carl said. Bullies he knew and he knew that Jeremy took Sarah's bracelet just because he could.

"Maybe I did, what are you going to do get your daddy to shoot me?" Jermery asked. He brushed past Carl and purposely bumped into his shoulder and then walked away laughing all the way down the hall.

"Fucking asshole." Duane said. "Don't worry I got your back."

The next day at school Mr. Henderson announced that Sarah would no longer be attending school with them. Carl looked at Jeremy's face when the principal made his announcement and he looked like a man that just been told he'd won ten billion dollars.

It was like going to school with Nick Hayden all over again, but this time Carl refused to be bullied, this time and he refused to let Jeremy bully anyone else. His days of being a punching bag were over. This time he was going to punch back.

3

Michonne tiptoed around the sleeping toddlers. Staff Sargent Deann was coming to relieve her for a break, one that Michonne had felt was well deserved. Initially she was only supposed to have eight children to watch, but one of the military personnel's child care plans fell through, so three more children were added to her roster. Now she had eleven toddlers to take care of. She had spent her morning wiping, feeding and chasing toddlers around.

"You got them all to go to sleep, well that makes my job a lot easier." Deann said when she spotted the children.

"Yes and they'll probably be ready to wake up just as my break's ending. I better make it count."

"They've opened up that coffee bar that's in the lobby, why don't you go get yourself a cup."

Coffee did sound good. She let her nose guide her to the coffee bar, called The Snooze Bar. It was already crowded with people wanting coffee. Now that most people were working life in the Q.U.A.D. was starting to feel more like real life.

"Can I help you?" The tall blonde girl standing behind the counter asked.

"Amy!" Michonne shouted. She could not believe her eyes! Amy Harrison, her late best friend's Andrea's younger sister, was working as a barista in The Snooze Bar.

"Oh my god Michonne!" Amy ran from behind the counter and gave her a hug.

"I can't believe how grown up you look." Michonne said stepping back to look at the young woman. "You're what, a sophomore in college? My god I feel so old."

"I don't feel very grown-up, I cried everyday during my freshman year."

"Wait until it's time to pay off your student loans." Michonne teased.

"If the world ends I won't have to!"

"All ways look on the bright side of life." Michonne sang and whistled the tune.

Amy grinned fondly. "You don't know how much I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. Do you know how your parents are doing?"

"Last I checked they were hold up in Andrea's old house, you know they've kept the inside exactly the same ever since that day. It's like there still expecting her to come home. I just wish they'd sell the house. I miss her too, but she's never coming back"

Michonne picked up Amy's hand and gave it a squeeze. The day of the school shooting Michonne had been holding Andrea's hand much like she was holding Amy's now. Andrea Harrison had been hired as the new civics teacher the exact same day Michonne had been hired on as the new English teacher, and when Andrea had found out they were both from Georgia, she told Michonne it was a sign that the were meant to be friends. By the end of that first year they had be come best friends, and two years later Andrea died in that school and Michonne stayed beside her the hold time holding her hand.

"Tell my family that I love them, and look after my little sister for me." Had been Andrea's dying request.

"How did you end up here?'" Michonne asked Amy.

"I go to the Art Institute, but my roommate's parents took us out to dinner and we got stopped at a road block on our way back, how about you?"

"The man I just started dating got shot and the life flight brought him here to Atlanta. While he was getting better I stayed with one of his friends and watched his children. He's better now, but we had to leave Atlanta to get somethings from home and we got stopped at a road block on our way back."

"He has kids and you watched them, wow so you're like their stepmom. This is like some serious shit, hun?"

"I'm only twenty-seven, I never expected any thing like this before I turned thirty, but yeah it's some serious shit."

'"Is he cute? What's his name?"

"Yes. Rick. Why don't you come over for dinner and you can meet him and Carl and Judith."

"I can't wait." Amy said.

"I hate that it is under these circumstances, but I'm so happy you're here." Michonne told Amy.

"Me too it's like having my big sister here with me."

"Don't make me cry!"Michonne said

"I'm sorry." Amy said who was teary eyed herself. The two hugged again.

"Don't forget six o clock for dinner."

"Free food I don't have to cook myself, oh don't you worry I'll be on time."

When Michonne got back to the daycare the children were waking up just as she had predicted. She had them sit on the reading circle while she played the Sesame Street theme song on the acoustic guitar she found in one of the cupboards. Later she took them out into the courtyard that was their little patch of outdoor freedom. She watched the children laughing and playing and hoped that this kind of life wouldn't be Judith's future.

There were some tears, some fights and some messes, but overall her first day on the job went smooth. Judith talked non stop about their day as the pair rode the elevator up to their apartel.

"How did it go?" Rick asked as soon as they came through the door. He only worked three days a week and today was one of his days off.

"Mimi played her gitar." Judith informed her father. "We sang!"

"Really, I didn't know you played the gitar Michonne." Rick teased.

"I learned in college, but I haven't played in years though."

"What else don't I know about you?"

"Actually I did want to talk to you about something in my past."

"Oh no, should I be sitting down?"

Michonne smirked."It's nothing like that. It's not some dark secret, it's just hard to talk about."

Rick took Judith in the living room and put Babe in the DVD player. Since it was her favorite movie it meant they could talk with out interruption. He sat down on the couch and Michonne sat next to him.

"We're having a guest for dinner. Her name is Amy Harrison, and she's my best friend Andrea's little sister. Or she was. "

"Was?"

"She died in the school shooting."

"Michonne I am so sorry." Rick said

Michonne closed her eyes pressed her nails into the palms of her hands and began to tell Rick about that day.

"It was the middle of the day and at first I thought the sounds I heard were fire works, it was the end of the year and seniors and been pulling pranks all week, but then I heard the yelling. I told my students to get under their desk and cover themselves with their books. It was like I was a robot because there was no time to think about anything, I just did it. I don't know maybe I should have stayed in the classroom, but I didn't. I told two football players to put something heavy against the door, and not to open it until the police came. As I stepped out into the hallway students were running past me screaming and crying. Some of them were covered in blood. I couldn't tell if it was their blood or someone else's or where they were bleeding from. Then I saw Andrea lying down on the hallway floor covered in blood. I held her hand until she took her last breath"

Michonne was crying now. She still remembered the sickeningly painful feeling in the pit of her stomach when Andrea's eyes went from focusing on her to seeing nothing.

"I can't believe you were dealing with this yourself. You don't have to you. We're a couple we support each other." Rick said pulling her into him.

"I know, but the memories are so painful. It's been years since I could even say her name."

"I know the feeling." Rick said stroking her hair.

Michonne sighed deeply and pulled herself off the couch. "I'd better get this place straightened up before i start on dinner.

Rick helped Michonne to straighten up and then put Judith down for her nap.

"Put your things away and put on something nice for dinner." Michonne told Carl when he came home from school.

"Why?" He whined.

"We're having a guest for dinner."

"Really, who?"

"An old friend of mines."

"You ran into an old friend here?"

Michonne nodded.

"That's really cool."

"Yes it is. Now go get washed up and changed."

Dinner was ready by six and Amy showed up on time. Michonne made spaghetti and meatballs because it was Amy's favorite. In turn Amy was full of stories and entertained everyone throughout dinner.

"I looked up to my sister and Michonne so much it was embarrassing." She confessed. "They would go clubbing all the time and I'd be so jealous because I wasn't old enough to go."

Michonne remembered those days in her early twenties when she could dance and drink all night and still get up and go to work the next morning, and as much fun as she had, those days were gone and she did not miss them.

"Oh and then there was that New Years Eve you two went out and got tattoos."

Rick perked up suddenly. "You have a tattoo?"

"She does." Amy said.

"What's it of?" Carl asked.

"A flame lily it's Zimbabwe's national flower that's where my grandparents are from."

Rick was staring at her intently no doubt wondering where her tattoo was on her body because he had not seen it yet.

"I don't know why you looked up to us Amy, you were always cooler than us. She sewed her entire wardrobe for her senior year. I used to love seeing your outfits."

Michonne and Amy did most of the talking during dinner with Rick and Carl chiming in occasionally. After dinner Michonne sent Amy home with a plate of food. Carl left to play video games with his friends and Rick called Shane over to watch Judith over night.

After dinner was over Rick helped Michonne to clean up the kitchen and took the trash down to the incinerator.

Michonne got into the shower to wash away the days dirt and when she stepped into their room Rick was sitting on the bed staring up at her.

"We've got the place to ourselves, why don't you go ahead and show me where your tattoo is." Rick said.

"No, you're just going to have to find out where it is yourself."

Rick's eyes lit up at the challenge. He popped off the bed and unwrapped her towel from around her still damp body and threw it in he hamper. His blue eyes had grown darker with desire as they slowly traveled down her body. His eyes lingered on her breast for a moment, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile, before he started his journey downward.

Wetness was beginning to pool between Michonne's legs as Rick's eyes hungrily searched her body. Her skin was heating up and starting to feel sensitive to the air it was exposed to. She needed him to touch her. Her whole body was anticipating so long she had been waiting to be with him.

Rick stepped closer to her his large hands cupping her breast his thumbs swirled around her nipples causing them to harden.

Michonne groaned.

Rick trailed kisses up her neck. "Am I close?" He whispered in her ear."

"Cold." Michonne replied.

Rick trailed his hand down from her breast to her bellybutton. "How about now?" He whispered giving the skin on her neck a slight nip.

"Warm." She said.

He slid his hand down a little further. "How bout now?"

"Warmer." Michonne almost sank to the floor when Rick slipped one finger inside of her. It had been too damn long she thought as his finger flicked inside her wet walls. Just that little movement harden her nipples even more and she let out a soft moan.

"Am I in the right spot?" Rick growled in her ear and added another finger.

"No-not if you're s-still looking for the tattoo." Michonne panted.

"Oh yeah that." Rick said removing his hand from inside of her.

Michonne could have killed him.

Rick trailed his hand down Michonne's right thighs slowly, causing her to shiver under his touch.

"You're getting so hot."

Rick dropped to his knees and then grasped her right thigh, and there on the inner part of her thigh was her tattoo. Rick kissed it.

"You're on fire." Michonne purred. Her fingers slipped into Rick's hair.

"It's a very sexy tattoo." Rick said his mouth was against her tattoo when he spoke, and the vibrations his mouth made cause the most pleasant sensation.

Michonne closed her eyes and gasped her she felt Rick's tongue slip inside of her. She tightened her grip on his hair. Rick gave her ass a little slap and he pulled her down on to his face.

Michonne's eyes rolled into the back of her head and her hips tightened and buck around around Rick's face. His tongue, oh god if she'd know he had this kind of cunnilingus skills she would have show him her tattoo a long time ago! she looked down and saw the muscles in his jaw working his eyes looking up at her taking in her face that was contorted in the throws of passion.

When they finally made it to the bed Michonne was more than ready. Rick slid into her slowly and she savored the feel of each hard, thick, pulsing inch. She had needed this. Wanted this. Wanted him completely and now she had him.

"Michonne, what a wet pussy you have!" Rick teased.

"The better to fuck you with, my dear." Michonne responded and tightened herself around him.

Rick groaned and began to move his hips stroking her. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Rick kissed her neck, mouth, and breast. Kissing any part of that he could as he stroked her harder. Michonne whimpered. She could feel herself coming apart she dug her nails in his back trying to stay in control. Rick slowed down his pace setting a hypnotic rhythm as she watched him pull out of her only to slide the length of him into her slowly again.

She reached up to caress his cheek and he pushed himself into her again kissing her on the lips. Michonne met his stroke and it pushed her over the edge, and as she came she took Rick with her.

"I told you I wasn't decrepit." Rick panted.

Michonne laughed. "I never thought you were decrepit, and definitely wouldn't think it after today."

"I've wanted this for so long, but I wasn't ready before now." Rick said and pulled her closer to him.

"I'm glad we waited it's what we both needed."

"The two of us have been through so much in such a short time, but we've gotten through it. No matter what life has put us through lately we just roll up our sleeves and deal with it. It's like we're married. It's like you're my wife and I think you should be."

"What?"

"I'm asking you to marry me Michonne."


	11. Chapter other Bride Another Groom

Author's Note: Hello lovely followers. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to read my story. I know you can pick any FF you choose so I am so thankful all of you who chose to read my FF. I'm trying something different with this chapter. As the plot thickens each characters POV chapters are becoming longer and longer. Long chapters are nice, but when chapters are too they become a chore to read, so I'm going to be posting Michonne, Rick and Carl's chapters separately.

**11\. Another Bride. Another Groom. Another Apocalyptic Afternoon**

Michonne lay in postcoital bliss absolutely stunned by Rick's proposal. She knew that Rick loved her but she had no ideal he wanted to marry her.

"This isn't some crazy the world's ending let's throw caution to the wind kind of thing." Rick said after Michonne's prolonged silence.

"Stop acting like you can read my mind." Michonne said. "That was a stunned silence."

"Oh, is that a yes then?" Rick asked.

"Yes! Of course it's a yes!"

"Good because I don't want to play house anymore. I don't just want to marry you Michonne, I want you to adopt Carl and Judith and become their mother legally. If anything ever happens to me I don't want there to be a reason that the three of you are separated."

"Of course I will."

"After everything we've been through I can't see spending the rest of my life with anyone else." Rick told her.

"Michonne Grimes. Mrs. Michonne Grimes." She said testing the sound of the name out on her lips.

"I like the sound of that." Rick said taking her hand.

"Me too."

"We're going to be happy flame lily."

"Flame lily? What happened to angel face?"

"You still have an angel face, but I think flame lily is a more fitting term of endearment."

"Tattoos really turn you on, hun?" Michonne asked.

"They do when they're on you. Hey maybe I'll get Michonne tattooed across my chest."

"Please don't ever do that."

Rick laughed. "Don't think I can pull off the tatted up rock star look?"

"I love you just the way you are."

Rick didn't say anything he just pulled her into his arms. She listened to the steady beating of his heart. Every time Rick held her in his arms it felt right.

"Let's stay like this forever." Rick said with his eyes closed.

"I wish we could, but it's time to get breakfast started. Shane will be bringing Judith home any minute now." Michonne said as she reluctantly got out of bed. After a shower and a change of clothes she headed into the kitchen.

A few moments later Rick joined her. His hair was still wet from his shower. "I'm mak-in bac-on." He sang and danced over to the refrigerator.

"Promise me you'll always be this cute so long as we both shall live."

Rick crossed his heart and then handed her a carton of eggs. She started cracking eggs into a bowl while Rick fried up the bacon.

Their front door clicked as Shane let himself into their apartel. Michonne noticed a large scratch on his cheek.

"What happen, pick up line gone wrong?" Michonne asked.

"Carley Nguyen did this to me." Shane said as he let Judith down to the ground.

Michonne stopped whisking her eggs and looked up at Shane. "The investigative reporter from WABE?"

Shane nodded. "Turns out she lives four doors down from me."

"Really? I can't believe I've never run into her." Michonne said.

"Wait, you haven't heard the best part yet. Jude was actin real cranky when I brought her to my place yesterday I don't think she wanted me to watch her." Shane said.

"I'm sorry." Michonne said. "We should have warned you. She and Carl had a fight that day."

Shane shrugged and continued with his story. "Jude starts hollerin', I don't want you! I want daddy I want Mimi, Carley was down the hall takin all this in. I'm trying to calm Jude down but the poor little thing is having a melt down. She just keeps screamin how she don't like me for taking her from her daddy and Mimi, an' finally Carley comes over and she starts hitting me with her bag an' yellin cuz she thought I kidnapped Jude."

"Only you." Rick said as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Something like this could only happen to you."

"S'ok, I got a date with her."

"What happened to Layla?" Rick wanted to know.

Shane shrugged. "Same thing that always happens."

Michonne rolled her eyes and went back to whisking the eggs.

"What, I can't help it if the ladies love Shane."

"Right, I forgot I was talking to LL Cool Shane." Michonne said drolly.

"Oh man, don't go bustin my balls like that on an empty stomach."

"Is that your not so subtle way of asking to stay for breakfast?" Michonne asked him.

"If you're offering."

"If your staying make yourself useful and set the table." Rick ordered Shane.

"I help!" Judith cried.

After washing Judith's hands Michonne sat her down on a stool and let her push the button on the toaster and then stack the toast on a plate.

Carl woke up just as breakfast was finished cooking and Michonne laughed. Rick always teased Carl about his knack for showing up just as the food got finished cooking.

"Morning Dad, morning Michonne." Carl greeted.

"Good morning Carl." Michonne said and handed him a platter of scrambled eggs. "Take this to the table please."

"Hey Shane."

"Mornin sleepy head." Shane said and ruffled Carl's hair. "Doesn't look much different now that how you usually wear it."

"I've seen your high school pictures. I wouldn't talk." Carl replied and sat down at the table.

"The skillets not on but you still got burned." Rick said.

After everyone had sat down, Rick cleared his throat. "I have an announcement to make, Michonne and I are getting married."

Michonne looked at Carl's face. She wanted to see his reaction. His honest reaction.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really, really." Rick replied.

"So we'll be like an official family, like the Grimes family 2.0." He said smiling just as wide as the two of them were.

Michonne smiled her moment of panic over. She was worried that Carl might have been upset, but she realized that just like her he wanted stability and normalcy when and where ever he could get it.

"Congratulations!" Shane said.

"How bout being your old man's best man?" Rick asked Carl.

"What about Shane?"

"Yeah, what about Shane?" Shane echoed.

"I can have more than one best man."

"Calm down everyone." Michonne said. "Weddings take planning one doesn't just throw a wedding together over night."

"Michonne when I say get married, I mean get married here and now. When all of this is over I promise you can have the wedding of your dreams."

"How are you going to get married when we're stuck in here?" Carl wanted to know.

"The fishbowl is a government building there's bound to be someone there with the legal authority to marry us."

"So you gonna go for it?" Shane asked Michonne.

"If we can find someone to preform the marriage, yes."

"We'll find someone." Rick assured her.

"I'll get the ball rolling, Michonne said, tomorrow at work I'll talk to Deann and see if she knows anyone with the authority to marry us."

Michonne had just read her students to sleep when Staff Sargent Deann came to relieve her for break. As she tried to figure out how to bring up the question of wanting to get married she realized how truly strange her life had become. How did she even go about framing such a question?

"Is there any way to be married while we're in quarantine?" Michonne asked. She figured honest and direct was the best way to go.

"A wedding?"

"No a marriage."

"How about having a wedding?" Deann asked. "Everyone here is at an all time low, and I think a wedding is just the sort of event people need in order to remember that life has a purpose, and that there's hope. I'll talk to a few people and see what we can come up with."

For the rest of the day all Michonne could think about was the possibility of having a wedding. She was happy enough just to be getting married to Rick, but if they could pull off a wedding she wouldn't object. Who knew when things were going to be normal enough to have a wedding out side of the Q.U.A.D. There were certainly enough places to have a wedding. One of the ballrooms in the convention center. The reception room in the hotel. The small patch of fenced in woods within the Q.U.A.D'S grounds.

She made a mental checklist in her head of what she had on hand for a wedding. She had packed her nicest dress when she went back to Possum Holler because Rick was going to take her out for a fancy dinner. She even had a ring! Michonne had taken her great-great-grandmother's antique ring because she'd been too nervous to leave it in an empty house for three weeks. It was an irreplaceable family heirloom and her mother would have never forgiven her if she lost it. Rick had a nice suit for the same reason she brought her nicest dress. He would need a ring though. Perhaps they could find something suitable in the gift shop. If she did have a wedding here and live to tell about it, what a story it would make for their grandchildren!

Michonne didn't hear back from Deann until the end of her shift, but the wait was well worth it because Master Sargent David Wolf was on board with the idea. He agreed to not only let them use the grand ballroom for their wedding, but to marry them himself. He invited everyone to their wedding, even the military personnel. Michonne didn't mind really nothing in life was free. This wedding was quid pro quo, she and Rick were getting a free wedding and as for the Staff Sargent, well what better accolades were there of the success of people being able to maintain a normal life inside of a Q.U.A.D than a marriage?

The word of their wedding spread quickly and the entire Q.U.A.D seemed intrigued by the idea. It made Michonne and Rick into something of celebrities. All day long people would stop them in the hallways and congratulate them on getting married. Others volunteered their services. A local DJ offered to provide music. Shane's current woman of the moment, Carley, told them that the camera crew from WABE would be more than happy to record and take pictures of their wedding. Others volunteered to help decorate the ballroom. Michonne was starting to see that Deann was right people did need this wedding. Their wedding gave everyone hope because it meant that people could still come together despite everything falling apart.

On the weekends Michonne, Amy and Annalise had started getting together at Annalise's suite for drinks, food, and to talk about anything but the end of the world. This weekend the topic of discussion was Michonne's wedding.

"I can't believe you're getting married. It's so romantic, like something out of a fairy tale." Amy said hugging a pillow from Annalise's couch over her heart.

"Too bad I can't say the same for the honeymoon. I don't know what where going to do for that."

"Forget the honeymoon, what are you going to do for a dress?" Annalise asked.

"Oh my god! Amy shouted suddenly and jumped out of her seat. "I can totally make you a wedding dress!"

"Really? Out of what?"

"Out of the beautiful silk chiffon peignoir I found in my room."

"It would be an honor, but please I don't want anything too fancy."

"I'm picturing an Edwardian ethereal princess gown with a long train, Amy said, I'll sketch it out so you can share my vision."

"If you want, I could help plan your wedding. I used to plan parties and charity events all the time. It will feel a little like having my old life back." Annalise said.

"Yes, please." Michonne said. "Thank you both so much. Dare I say that I'm actually starting to feel giddy about my wedding?"

"Go ahead and get giddy girl. Everyone deserves to feel that way about their wedding." Annalise told her.

Michonne allowed herself to giggle. She couldn't remember the last time she had. It wasn't as if she didn't have anything to be happy about, she did, but this was a celebration. She had beaten the odds and found that one person out of the billions of people on the earth who wanted to be with her, just her.

When she got home Carl's friends were over. They reminded Michonne of the watches in the Salvador Dalí Persistence of Memory painting. His friends were lying around the living room floor, draped over the couch, or lying half on the couch half on the floor as if they'd melted into the carpet.

"Carl told us about your wedding. If you want we can make you a bouquet." Tamekia offered. "We're growing some flowers in our Horticulture class."

"We can make you a flower crown too, if you'd like." Keisha added.

"I would love that, thank you very much." Michonne said truly touched."If you wouldn't mind I'll need some flowers for my little flower girl too." She said pointing to Judith.

"Aww, does that mean our wittle bitty Carl is gonna be the ring-barer?' Duane asked in a grandma voice."Oh my, they grow up so fast." He added and pinched Carl's cheek.

"Shut up!" Carl replied and hit him with a pillow from the couch.

Michonne giggled again. She was going to be down right delirious by the end of the day. She needed that feeling though because tonight was her first class on how to kill biters. No matter how much happiness she felt, she couldn't forget that she was in the end of days.

Dinner that evening was just her, Carl and Judith. Rick was still at work, but was going to meet her in the training center after his shift ended, which meant that she had to be the one to lie to Carl about where she was going and what she was doing. She hated to lie to him, but Rick didn't want him to know about killing biters. Michonne wasn't sure if Carl should learn to kill biters or not, but she didn't think Rick should be lying to him about it. Carl was a lot smarter than Rick gave him credit for and sooner or later he would figure it out.

The training center was in the receiving dock of the convention center. With the concrete slab walls and floors and the high small windows Michonne could see why they chosen such a place. The unmistakable smell of decomposing flesh hung in the air like an unwelcomed visitor. Michonne wrinkled her nose against the smell. There was a young soldier who looked like Opie Taylor already in the room waiting for them. Behind him biters were being held in cages that reminded Michonne of the starting gates that racehorses waited behind. They were making those ungodly sounds deep within their throats that never failed to make the hairs on the back of Michonne's neck stand up.

"Where does Carl think we are?" Rick asked Michonne as soon as he saw her.

"Having a few celebratory wedding drinks at the hotel bar." She replied. She was still feeling some type of way about having to lie to Carl, but now was not the time to bring up that sore subject. Instead she looked around the training room. On a long metal table beside her were a neat pile of gray jumpsuits for them to put on, and Michonne guessed it was to prevent blood from splattering all over them, It was not a comforting thought. As Michonne looked around she was shocked to see that Carley Nguyen was one of the people struggling to get into a gray jumpsuit. Shane must have invited her. Morgan, Tyreese, and Annalise were the only other people in the room, and Michonne had the distinct feeling that this class was not something the army knew about. She slipped into a jumpsuit of her own and Rick helped her to pull the hood over her head and cover her locs. She hoped that there wouldn't be problems if the Master Sargent found out.

"My name is Corporal Gavin Carmichael and welcome to bite club. The first rule of bite club is, you do not talk about bite club."

Michonne rolled her eyes so hard she wouldn't have been surprised if they popped out of her head and went flying across the room. This was the person that was going to teach them to kill biters? She had already had her doubts because he looked too young to be in the army, let alone commanding a group of people to kill something. If she didn't trust Rick so much she would have walked right out of the room.

"The first thing you need to do is forget everything Hollywood told you about maiming or killing. None of you are superheros with superhero strength. You won't be hacking limbs, cracking skulls or breaking necks, not without expending so much energy that it would make the fight counter productive. The second thing you need to know is if given the choice between fight or flight, choose flight every single time. I will teach you to kill biters, but the best plan of action is to always outmaneuver, outrun, outlive."

"I certainly won't have trouble with the outrun part." said Carley who was standing beside Michonne.

"You and me both." Michonne replied.

"Maiming to kill is the key to survival. This is not a video game where you'll be pulling off one hit kills. Take out the parts that biters need to hunt you or hurt you, eyes, hands, mouth, and then go for a blow to the temples where the skull bone is the thinnest. Crack the skull like the shell of a crab, and then the coup de main to the brains. Remember unless the biter is severely decomposing it's going to take a lot of effort to crack or puncture a skull. "

Michonne smiled at the fencing term and decided that her historical fencing training would be her key to killing biters. She would take out the biter just like an opponent in a fencing match.

"In a minute I'm going to release the biters, your first instinct maybe to run, but don't. Fear will kill you faster than anything else. Know that they're coming for you and they want to bite you. The the only time you fight instead of run is when you can't run."

Michonne braced herself. Gavin went over to the cages and pushed a button. There was a noise like that of an apartment buzzer and the doors swung open simultaneously and the biters slowly lumbered out. Even though Gavin told Michonne not to run she almost did. Even without their teeth the biters were intimidating.

"Don't be afraid that you don't have a weapon either. I've placed them all around this room. Find one and then take them out. The things in this room may not look like typical weapons, but you need to be innovative, anything can become a weapon if you know how to use it as one."

A biter came for Michonne she fought down her fear and panic and began looking around for a weapon, any weapon and the biter got too close to Michonne. She spun out of it's way to avoid being grabbed and then spotted an ice pick sitting on a table and picked it up. The weight of it felt good in her hands it was not long enough to be an effective long distance weapon, but in close combat it would do. The ice pick was lightweight and was easy enough to handle it reminded her of a misericord dagger, a weapon she had used before, and so it made wielding the ice pick that much easier.

The biter was still coming for her. The closer it got the more she wanted to scream and run. There wasn't a part of her that wasn't trembling in fear. It can't hurt you, but you can hurt it. She repeated to herself over and over. She waited for the biter to come with in striking distance, though the smell was enough to make her gag. The biter grabbed her and Michonne let out a scream. She couldn't help it! The feel of if's skin was one of the most unpleasant sensations she'd ever felt in her life it was like being grabbed by a piece of rotten flyblown meat.

Don't panic. She told her self. and stabbed it in the eye with the ice pick. It can't hurt you, but you can hurt it. She stuck the ice pick further into it's eye socket and left it there. Breaking the biters grip she went to go look for a weapon heavy enough to cause some blunt force trauma. She found an iron fireplace poker and swung it as hard as she could at the biters' temples like Gavin had told her. The biters head swung around and Michonne hit it in the head again and again and again until the biter fell to the ground. Stepping on the biters head to keep it from moving, Michonne grabbed the ice pick from it's eye and stabbed it repeatedly into the wound she caused on the side of it's head, and followed up with several heavy blows from the fireplace poker. When she was done she dropped her weapons to the ground with a clatter and sobbed.

Rick pulled her into his arms. "Sssh it's all right. You got it. You did good."

Michonne continued to sob into Rick's chest.

She had done it. She had learned to kill a biter. This morning she'd been planning her wedding and now she was bludgeoning skulls. She looked back at the mess she made, they could call them "biters" all they wanted to, but all Michonne could see on the floor in a heap of blood, bones and tissue mass was a human. All over the floor there were dead bodies with their heads smashed in. The blood and carnage reminded her of the school shooting. So violent so senselessly violent. At one point in her life she thought that she could escape from violence, but now she realized what a pipe dream that was, this is what the world was coming too.

"I want to go Rick." Michonne said. "Please let's get out of here." She was still shaking all over.

"You OK?" Rick asked.

"No."

"I'm sorry Michonne, maybe that wasn't such a good idea."

"No, I needed to learn, but it's just hard. Can we leave now, please?"

"Of course let's go."

They left without saying anything to anyone.

Carl and Judith were asleep when Michonne and Rick got back to their apartel. Michonne was glad because she didn't think she would have the strength to lie to Carl right now. Sighing softly Michonne brushed the hair out of Carl's eyes, and took the book he was clutching on to through the debts of his sleep and put it on his nightstand. Next she went over to Judith and pulled her covers around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It broke her heart to see how innocent and vulnerable they were in their sleep. If anything were to happen to them she didn't know how she'd be able to handle it. Let them be safe Michonne prayed. No matter what happens to me, please keep them safe. She took one last look at the sleeping children before leaving the room and then stepping into the shower. She stayed in the shower until all of the hot water ran out, and yet she still could not wash away the feeling of the biter's blood off of her. After she dried off and put on her nightgown she climbed into bed and curled up into Rick. Neither of them spoke as they watched the news. The reporter on TV was talking about another spike in the number of deaths the Cadere Virus had caused. It had now claimed the lives of fifteen percent of the world's population.

"Are you sure you're going to be OK?" Rick asked. He was rubbing her arm softly with the tips of his fingers and she loved it when he did that. It was such a soft delicate touch and yet it made her feel so protected.

Michonne nodded at the TV. "Watching the news I realized just how lucky we are, but luck doesn't last forever. I hated what I had to do today, but I did it because I'll do anything to keep all of us safe. Whatever it takes to keep us safe to keep us alive, I'll do it."

"So will I." Rick said.

"I know you will." Michonne said. "It's one of the many reasons I'm marrying you. We're better together."

It made her sad beyond words to think of her own mother out there somewhere wondering what had become of her children. The pain she was going through must be unbearable, if she was even still alive. It was only a few rare times she let herself think about what might have happened to her family out there, to dwell on it would mean to lose it completely, but the love and the strength of her new family is what kept her going.

"Did I tell you that I have a ring?" Michonne asked.

"You've got a ring? That's not right aren't I supposed to drop three months salary on an engagement ring?

"Even if we weren't stuck in here I wouldn't want you spending three months salary on a ring because De Beers told you to. Besides my ring is an antique passed down from my great-great grandmother." She rolled over and pulled the ring out of the lock box she kept in her nightstand.

"It's beautiful." Rick said examining the ring.

"It was my mom's dream to see me walk down the aisle with this ring on my finger." Michonne told Rick.

"I'm sorry she won't be here to see it, but if we get to meet up when all of this is over, I promise you your mother will get to see you walk down the aisle wearing that ring."

_If you can hear me momma, dad, don't worry about me._ Michonne thought. She allowed herself to be swallowed up by Rick's hug. His embrace felt like a promise of security._ I'm safe and surrounded by people who love me. I'm getting married to the most wonderful man in the world. I wish you could meet Rick he's a good man and he will protect me with his life. He's got two amazing children. Carl and Judith, I know you and dad would love them. They're my new family and they need me and I need them. We take care of each other just like you and dad took care of me. I wish you where here so I could thank you in person for teaching me to be a good enough person to be able to tell when a man is good enough for me._

Rick got up off of the bed. "Now that I have a ring I want to do this right." He dropped to one knee. "Michonne would you do me the honor of making me and our children the happiest people on the planet by becoming my wife?"

"Yes." Michonne replied.

Rick slid the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand and then kissed her.


	12. Chapter 12 Love in the time of Cadere

** 12\. Love in the time of Cadere**

"From the way you been swaggering around the halls you musta got your happy ending."

It was another quiet night on patrol and Rick and Shane sat in their car eating the lunches that Michonne had packed for the both of them. Actually she started packing lunch for Carl when he started to complain about how awful the school lunches were, but he and Shane had whimpered and pouted comically like puppies until Michonne took pity on them and started packing them lunches too.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, but if I were to die today I would without a doubt die the happiest man in the entire universe."

"So she makes you happy on all fronts. Good to know I was worried for awhile that your guilt would keep you from finding someone."

"The current situation of the world put things into perspective. It's made me realize what's important in my life, and that's why I've asked Michonne to adopt Carl and Jude."

Shane nodded. "I can dig it. She's their momma in every other sense but lawfully"

"God forbid if anything happens to Michonne, but if it does I want you to take care of them."

"I know man. You know I got your back."

"So what about you and Carley?" Rick asked. "You've been seeing a lot of her lately."

"She's way too classy for me. I think I'm just her roll in the dirt."

"Don't sell yourself short." Rick told Shane.

"I'm not I'm just being honest."

"No, you're just feeling sorry for yourself." Rick replied.

"I guess maybe I am, I'm kind of envious of what you got. I mean I got plenty of ladies to love me, but none of them are in love with me."

"Well who's fault is that?" Rick asked.

"I just can't believe you're gonna be married twice 'fore I'm even gonna get married once." Shane said.

Rick laughed. "So what are you saying you want to fall in love and get married?"

"I'm sayin I want someone to be ride or die for me like Michonne is for ya."

"I would have never guess the greatest player of all times would want a ride or die chick. "

Shane burst out laughing until tears ran from his eyes.

"What?" Rick wanted to know.

"You saying ride or die chick." Shane said. "You even knowing what that means."

"Hey I'm the father of a teenaged son I know stuff. I hear things."

"You still ain't told Carl about the biters have you?"

"We're not talking about that." Rick said through clenched teeth.

Shane shook his head. "You know sometimes you're stubborn just for the sake of being stubborn."

Rick said nothing. Shane didn't have children so he didn't know the eternal struggle between wanting to protect your children from the world while teaching them to be thick skinned enough to survive it. He wanted Carl to grow up, but no faster than he had to. Carl had already faced tragedies people twice his age had not had to face. It was his job as a parent to face down the things that his son and daughter were not old enough or strong enough to face themselves, and it was a job he took very seriously.

Michonne did not have children of her own, but understood this. She understood it so much that she had risked her life to save children that were not her own. She had learned to kill biters ,even though she was scared, for his children whom she loved as if they were her own, and that was only one of the reasons he loved her so much. He'd never seen anyone love so selflessly before. When he first met her all he had to offer her was his broken down self and his dysfunctional family. Still she had not written him off, the pain she was going through allowed her to be sympathetic to the pain he was going through.

"Don't bring this up again." Rick told Shane.

Shane let out a long dramatic sigh and the awkward silence between them lasted until the end of their shift.

"See you later, man." Shane called out.

"Yeah." Rick called back. He knew that Shane would probably be over tomorrow despite their lukewarm farewells.

Michonne was awake when Rick came home. She always woke up when he came through the door. It was like her body had set some internal alarm clock for him and Rick was glad of it. She would pour him a cup of coffee and he would tell her about his night then he'd pour her a cup of coffee and listen as she told him about her plans for the day. Judith was usually at the kitchen table drawing another picture. Her art work was quicly filling up the walls of her room. As he wound down he would watch TV and give Michonne his own report of what was going on with the world while she got ready for work.

"Do you want me to turn the sound up?" Rick asked knowing the answer.

"No, you know I like the sound of your voice better than that reporter's."

He did know that, but he like hearing Michonne say it.

Michonne poked her head out of the bathroom. "Oh, did Carl tell you?"

"You know he never tells me anything. I'm not cool enough."

"I'm going to be tutoring Sarah since she's no longer going to school."

"I'm glad to know she'll still be able to get an education while she's here."

"It was all Carl's idea."

Rick was happy to know that his son was willing to look out for the interest of others. Perhaps he'd let go of some of the anger and numbness that he was holding on to so strongly when they first got to the quarantine. Rick knew where those type of feelings could lead to because when Lori had died that was exactly how he felt. He could remember coming home and self medicating with bourbon every night. One night when he was in the kitchen drinking and wallowing in self pity Carl had walked in on him. He'd been holding a bottle of bourbon crying, cussing, and swaying on his feet.

Carl had stared at him bug eyed unsure of what to do.

Rick's bourbon soaked mind tried to sober up as quickly as possible, but it was too late he'd gone crashing to the floor in an alcohol blackout. Carl had somehow gotten him up off the floor, into his bed, and took off his sock and shoes and tucked him in. It had been the lowest point in his life as a father and one he swore never to repeat again. Carl never said anything about it the next morning but Rick would bet money the memory was as seared on Carl's brain as it was his.

"Annalise invited us over for a dinner tonight. I told Carl he could have a couple of friends over while he watches Judith." Michonne told Rick. She came out their bedroom fully dressed and was slipping on a pair of shoes.

"I think I may actually pull off wearing a tuxedo to our wedding."

"Really, how?"

"Piece by piece actually. I've been given a cummerbund, a bow tie and a jacket from Carl's friend, Ben."

"That really tall kid?" She asked putting her earrings in.

"Yeah, turns out he was here in Atlanta for a show choir competition and the jacket and accessories were for one of his skits."

"Does the jacket fit?"

"It does actually, that kid has got some really long arms."

"I can't believe how quickly this is all coming together."

"I know. The adoption is coming together quickly too. The state of Georgia has been expediting a lot of adoptions since so many children have been orphaned because of the virus. As soon as we're married they're going to go ahead and start the adoption process."

"I can't believe it. Rick that's wonderful."

"I know. There's nothing in this world more important to me than us staying together right now."

"We need to make plans then. We need to plan on how to get back together in case we ever get separated. We need to have a place where we could all meet up in case we do get separated. We need to think of a safety word for Judith and then teach her what it means and how to use it."

"You've really been preparing for this haven't you?"

"Of course I want to be proactive not reactive." Michonne said. She looked at the clock on the wall in the kitchen. "Speaking of proactive I'd better get going."

Judith climbed down from the kitchen chair. "I ready!" she announced as she toddled into the living room.

"You two look beautiful. Have a wonderful day." Rick said and got up to kiss both of them.

"Bye Rick."

"Bye daddy." Judith called as Michonne scooped her up and headed out the door for work.

"Bye Michonne. Bye Jude be a good girl."

After Michonne and Jude left Rick washed up the few dishes in the sink, took a shower, and then crawled into bed. When he woke up again Carl was home from school.

"Where's Michonne?" Rick asked.

"Up at Amy's for a dress fitting."

"Oh, how was school?"

Carl shoved his hands in a bag of chips and ate a fist full before answering. "There are like twice as many rabbits in the rabbit run. It must be like bow chicka wow wow non stop in that cage. "

Rick stared at his son and wondered if it was time to have "the talk" again. The last time he'd talk to Carl about sex was when he was seven and he'd asked where babies had come from. He must have more questions by now, but he never came to him for answers which meant he was probably going to his friends who were no doubt misinformed.

"Shawn says he's going to have to do something because now we have more rabbits than we can take care of. Maybe he'll let people take them home as pets."

Rick sighed and sat down beside his son on the couch. There was so much he wanted to teach Carl. So much he needed to teach Carl while he still had the chance to teach him, but how did you condense a lifetime of lessons into one father son talk?

"So what are you and your friends going to do?" Rick asked as casually as he could.

Carl shrugged. "I don't know watch movies or listen to music. What else is there to do?"

Have an orgy. Rick thought. "Well I want you guys to stay in the apartel, no riding the elevators up and down or throwing things off of the roof."

Carl gave his father a look as if he were the most gauche person in the world. "We don't even do that anymore, dad."

"Duly noted."

"What if I want to go to someone else's apartel?"

"That's fine as long as you take your sister with you and stay there. I mean it no roaming around."

"We'll probably just stay here." Carl said and started flipping through the channels. "There's never anything on but the stupid news. The virus is killing everyone, we're all going to die, we know."

Where to start, what to say, and how to say it. Rick was at a loss. Sometimes Shane reminded him of Carl in his thinking. He thought that he could just show Carl how to kill biters and that would be the end of it, but it wouldn't. You couldn't just show your children things, couldn't just teach them you had to explain to them. You had to make them understand why they had to do things sometimes that they might not want to do. The gray areas of morality were getting bigger and bigger he knew at some point Carl was going to have to do some morally ambiguous things.

"Carl."

"Yeah dad?" Carl asked turning away from the TV show he managed to find.

Rick looked at Carl and he looked so young so innocent. "Nothing." Rick said and cupped the back of his son's head. He couldn't say the things he needed to say to him, not today. He'd give Carl one more day of being a young and relatively happy teenager before he went over the horrors of the adult world with him.

Michonne came home while Rick and Carl were in the middle of a Fresh Prince of Bel Air marathon.

"Dad owes me like a billion dollars." Carl informed Michonne.

"Oh really?" Michonne asked "How's that?"

"We've been betting on who can guess which episode is on in the least amount of scenes. I'm winning because dad totally sucks at it."

"I haven't seen every episode ever made unlike some people." Rick said in his defense.

"Well I have, I want in on this action." Michonne said as she kicked off her heels.

"Me too!' Jude cried even though she couldn't possibly have known what it was she was agreeing too.

In the end Michonne won and Carl was impressed. "I can't believe how much of this show you remember."

"It's probably because I used to have the biggest crush on Will Smith, actually I still do."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Rick said and Michonne laughed.

"I'm going to get Judith washed and changed before we go." Michonne told Rick. "Why don't you go pick out something nice to wear."

"Something nice? We're only having dinner at Ty and Anna's."

"No they cooked the dinner, but our party is being held at La pêche , so dress nicely."

Grumbling Rick headed to his room to find something nice to wear. As he shut his door he swore he heard Carl making a noise like a whip. Rick flung open his door. "Did you just make a whip noise? Are you calling me whipped?"

"No. I think you must be hearing things." Carl said, but when Rick closed his door he heard the whip sound again.

Oh well he'd certainly been accused of things worse than being whipped, and if Michonne was the whipper he didn't mind being the whippee. He looked in the closet trying to find something nice. Rick was always a careful dresser. Lori always like to tease that he was one of the few men in Possum Holler who didn't think camo was an all occasion material or didn't walk around looking like he got dressed at a rummage sale in the dark. When he wanted to, he could look like he'd just stepped off of the cover of GQ, but he much preferred to wear well broken into jeans and flannel shirts. In the end he chose a pair of charcoal pants, and a cobalt blue oxford shirt, and his black dress shoes. He put on some acqua di gio because he knew Michonne loved it when he wore that sent. After Rick styled his hair he sat down and waited for her to get ready. She took her sweet time, but when he saw her he knew it was well worth the wait. .

Red lipstick. Red dress. Red shoes. If Michonne had wanted to get Rick's attention she had found the perfect combination to get it. Her bright red low cut dress fit her like it had been poured onto her. It accentuated her curves and her dark brown skin perfectly.

"You like?" Michonne asked.

"Me likey a lot." Rick said still staring at her. "I don't know if that dress was easy to put on, but I sure as hell hope it's easy to take off."

"Oh no, after all the trouble I went though you're not taking this dress off until after the party."

"Why don't you and me have a party right here?" Rick asked. "Just me, you, and that dress." He slid his hands down the small of her back and squeezed her ass.

"Hands Mr. Grimes, Michonne teased, now come on before you make us late to our own party." Michonne said.  
Reluctantly Rick removed his hands and followed Michonne out into the living room.

"You're dad and I are getting ready to leave."

Carl looked up from the TV and did a double take when he saw Michonne. "Wow, you look really, really pretty." He told her.

"You mean I don't usually?" Michonne teased.

A slow blush crept across his son's face. "I didn't mean that. I-"

"It's OK, I know what you meant and thank you Carl."

Rick smirked it was probably the first time Carl actually acquainted Michonne with being a woman separate from his teach or parent. He seem to be struggling with the idea that she could actually be all those things and sexy too.

"Would you like me to heat up the leftovers for your dinner?" Michonne asked.

"Er, I'm just going to make some frozen pizzas."

"Don't burn the hotel down." Rick warned.

"I know how to use an oven."

"Don't let Judith stay up too late." Michonne added.

"I know." Carl said and blew air through his hair.

Rick smiled. Michonne and Carl acted more like mother and son now. Michonne wasn't afraid to yell at Carl when he'd done something wrong or assign chores for him, and Carl didn't try and act so perfect around Michonne any more. He whined, pouted, and when he was feeling particular unafraid of dying by her hands, smart mouthed.

"All right then." Rick said. "I don't know when we'll be back, but I expect you to be on your best behavior while we're gone."

"OK, bye." Carl said in a voice that sounded as if he wished that the two of them had left a long time ago.

Rick stared at Michonne the whole elevator ride up to La pêche. He couldn't help himself that dress was like something out of his wildest dreams. Plus the bright red lipstick she wore was making him want to kiss her full lips.

As soon as Rick and Michonne stepped into La pêche everyone stood up and started clapping.

Shane let out a wolf whistle. "Did I ever tell you that red is my favorite color?"

"I wish we wore the same size shoes. because those are some serious fuck me pumps." Amy said.

"Slay girl slay!" Annalise cheered.

Michonne hid her face in Rick's chest embarrassed by all the attention. "Thank you for all of that." Michonne said grinning broadly . She looked around the restaurant. "This place looks and smells amazing, thank you for going through all the trouble for the two of us."

The restaurant did look amazing. The table in the center of the room had been laid out for them. There was a white table cloth on the table and fancy linen napkins. The plates where fine china with a fancy gold trim and the flatware was gold also. The wineglasses had gold around their rims. The lighting had been lowered to the same level as candlelight and Luther Vandross was serenading them in the background. Annalise made fancy looking hors-d'oeuvre and petits fours that she served on saucers that had the same fancy gold trim around them. It was the kind of set up his grandmother had used when she used to have high noon tea with her historical society friends. Rick picked up a few of the devils on horseback and popped them in his mouth. The bacon wrapped oysters tasted even better than they looked.

"It was no trouble at all, beside this momentous occasion deserves to be celebrated." Annalise said. She picked up a tray of champagne flutes off of the table and began handing them out.

"Now that the guest of honor are here let's sit down and eat." Tyreese said and rubbed his hands together.

Rick pulled out Michonne's chair for her and then he sat down himself. She smiled at him in thanks and he squeezed her thigh under the table.

"I'd like to make a toast." Shane said as he stood up and clinked his fork against his Champagne flute. "To Rick and Michonne who found love in the time of Cadere. Your love and your marriage truly proves that love can be found if only we keep our eyes, mind, and hearts open." He finished the toast by tipping his glass. "To Rick and Michonne."

"To Rick and Michonne." Everyone called back.

"Thank you Shane that was a beautiful toast." Michonne said getting up and kissing him on the cheek.

"So how did the two of you meet, Carley, who came as Shane's date asked.

"Michonne came to my house to check up on me after I kept ditching the parent teacher conferences she'd been setting up."

"Oh so your a teacher." Carley said.

"Yes, but actually I think we really have Carl to thank for getting us together."

"Who's Carl?" Carley wanted to know.

"Rick's son." Shane told her.

"That's so cute." Amy said.

"He was only speeding along the inevitable." Rick said. "As soon as Michonne walked into my house and started yelling at me I knew she was someone I wanted to see again."

"Really?" Michonne said. "You never told me that."

"I guess I thought it was evident. I was drowning when we first met, and you were the only one to offer me a life vest. I lived in a town where everyone was afraid to tell me what I needed to hear because of who I was, but Michonne knew who I was even then and knocked some sense into me."

"So what about you Michonne, what made you think Rick was the one?" Carley wanted to know.

"His kindness." She replied. "It was exactly what I needed. He's such a gentleman and it had been such a long time since someone put my feelings first, even after everything he's been through."

"You two are going the distance." Annalise said. "Trust me I'm never wrong about these things."

"I already know." Rick said taking Michonne's hand. He did not do things by half measures. He wasn't marrying Michonne with the mind set that if things didn't work out they could just get divorced, no he took his vows seriously. He wanted to be with Michonne until death and whatever came after that.

After they polished off the hors-d'oeuvres and washed them down with champagne, Amy and Shawn cleared away the dishes, and Tyreese brought in the main course. Rick wasn't sure of what it was, but whatever it was made him drool and his stomach growl.

"It's my specialty. The rest of the guys on the team used to beg me to cook it." Tyreese said. His eyes were shining like two newly minted pennies as he set the dish on the table and pulled off the lid with a flourish. "Voilà, herb and beer braised rabbit." There was also a kale salad and hot buttered rolls to go along with the rabbit.

"Where'd you get the rabbit from?" Carley wanted to know.

Rick thought that she asked a lot of questions, but she was an investigative reporter and was probably curious by nature.

Tyreese didn't say anything he just looked helplessly to Shawn, who'd come as Amy's date, for help.

"Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies." Shawn answered.

"You got it from the rabbit run didn't you?" Rick pressed. "Carl told me the rabbits have been getting it on like there's no tomorrow, and that you have more rabbits then you can handle."

"Oh my god." Amy cried. "I held those bunnies. I petted those bunnies. Now I just ate one of those bunnies."

"Don't worry I've got something in my pocket that will make you feel better."

"You'd better keep it in your pocket too." Amy replied.

"What? No not that I meant I have a couple of joints."

"Oh." Amy said and laughed. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I didn't want announce it in front of everyone in case some people don't puff."

"We're all cool right?" Carley asked

"Well I don't, but I don't care who does." Tyreese said.

"Anyone else object?" Carley asked. "No, well then light em up." Carley said slamming her fist on the table.

"This brings back memories." Shane said.

Shawn lit one of the joints. After taking a few hits he passed it to Amy who passed it to Michonne.

"I don't know , should I be doing this?" Michonne asked while holding the joint.

"Don't fuck up the rotation, eat , drink, and get stoned, for tomorrow we die." Shane shouted.

"Yeah come on Michonne it's what all the cool kids are doing." Amy said.

"You know this could literally be the last joint you smoke. You can't pass this up." Annalise reasoned.

"Hard to argue with logic like that." Michonne said and took a hit.

As Michonne sucked on the end of the joint with her bright red lips Rick felt his cock twitch. In that tight red dress she made every thing look sexy. Michonne smiled slowly and passed him the joint. He could hardly believe he was sitting here getting high, it seemed a stupid and pointless waste of time, but it felt like exactly the right thing to do. They all needed one night to escape who and what they were running from. Tonight they would celebrate without thought.

"This shit is the ooh wee, where did you get this weed from?" Annalise asked Shawn.

"I grew it, I'm growing it here."

Tyreese's eyes bugged. "You're growing weed here? Man, you're lucky your ass is white."

"Actually it was the army's idea, they wanted me to grow the marijuana for medicinal purposes. Or so I was told."

"Medicinal purposes my ass, they just wanted to get high." Tyreese said.

"Who cares, let's dance." Annalise said. "Come on Ty baby dance with me." Tyreese jumped out of his seat and grabbed his wife's hand. Like moths to the flame everyone headed out onto the dance floor.

"I'll turn on the stereo." Amy said. A few moments later Boogie Wonderland began playing from the huge speakers mounted on the wall.

Rick and Michonne started disco dancing. He pulled out all the moves he remembered from Saturday Night Fever. He hip bumped, dipped, and twirled Michonne around the dance floor. He love the sound of her laughter that trailed around her as she danced so much that he danced her across the floor, down a hallway, and into a pantry. The pantry must have been behind one of the huge stereo speakers because the music was so loud it rattled the cups.

"We're alone and no one would hear us." Rick whispered in Michonne's ear. He cupped her breast through the thin fabric of her dress and twirled his thumb around her nipple. Rick grinned wickedly when she bit her lip and moaned his name.

"We'd better not get caught." Michonne warned.

Rick backed Michonne up against the clear spot on the wall right behind the stereo speakers. He pulled her body into his and kissed her. He started off slowly with soft separated kisses and then his kisses grew longer, deeper, harder. He grabbed her hips and pressed his thick cock in between her legs spreading them apart, As he kissed the space in between her neck and shoulder he slowly pushed up her red dress watching as his large hands trailed the delicate red fabric along her toned thighs. Rick could feel the speaker's vibrations pulsating it's hedonistic beat through her body. The feeling made him feel insatiable for Michonne, like he couldn't get enough of her body under his hands fast enough.

Like a goddess in red Michonne tossed her locs out of her face her hair swung back in a graceful fall before swinging around her shoulders. She reached out and grabbed his hips and began to undulate against him . He could still feel their skin pulsing where the speakers vibrated, and with Michonne's warm firm body moving in time to the music Rick felt like he was in heaven. He lowered himself to her lips kissing her slowly and deeply.

"Oh god Rick this is so bad." Michonne panted as her eyelids flutter then her eyes closed.

"I know, don't you love it?" He asked and then kissed her neck.

"Yes." She hissed.

"Then tell me how you want me to do you?" He whispered into her ear.

"Hard and fast." Michonne said running her hand up under his shirt and then raking her nails down his chest.

Rick shuddered. So Michonne liked a bit of kink.

"We won't even take these off then." Rick said sliding her wet red panties aside. He yanked down his pants and let them fall down around his ankles. Michonne lifted one of her legs and hooked it over his forearm and Rick slid himself inside of Michonne causing her to moan out loud. She was wet, soft and warm and fit around him as if she were made for him. Rick closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against her's before moving inside of her. He stared at her nipples that had hardened through her dress and moved the fabric aside to lave one with his tongue.

"Move your hips." Michonne grunted and squeezed his ass to get him moving.

Rick did as he was obliged. Pulling out and then stroking back into her. He held on to her ass enjoying how it's warm roundness jiggled in his hands.

Michonne threw her head back and hit the wall behind her with a loud thud, but she didn't even seem to notice. She wrapped her arms around his neck and took the full lenght of him in. Rick began to stroke her.

"Oh Rick, fuck, fuck." She shouted.

"It's how you wanted it right?" Rick panted into her ear. "Hard and fast."

"Yes, yes, yes!" She cried over their skin clapping rhythmically together.

Rick groaned Michonne was so tight around him so damn tight. He gave her ass a squeeze in response to the feeling that was building inside of him. When she looked into his eyes that feeling only intensified. Those deep dark brown eyes had him hypnotized he reached out to touch her cheek wanting every part of him to be touching every part of her.

Michonne leaned forward and drew his lips into her full red painted mouth. Her lips were so full so luscious it almost felt like a sin kissing her. Surely he would have to pay for pleasure this exquisite. He could feel himself climaxing growing towards a state of pure ecstasy he'd never felt before in his life. His hands dug into her hips. He looked down and watched his cock gliding in and out of her, and then looked up at her face twisted beautifully with desire, he felt her nails digging into him as her body let go and she became helpless in the throws of her climax. It was like a shock wave he could see it starting in her and felt it flowing into him. As the orgasm washed over him Rick felt his arms shake and then his legs. The force of the orgasm seem to tear her name from him. He shouted her name and then collapsed onto her, and felt her own trembling arms sliding around him.

They didn't speak but this was a moment that didn't require words. Words had no proper weight to explain what had just transpired between them, besides they had grown past the need to fill up every silence with meaningless chatter. He was just enjoying this moment alone with her. He and Michonne didn't get much time together where it was just the two of them. He couldn't wait for her to become his wife so that they could create a million more memories like this.

"We didn't use protection. We'll have to be more careful." Michonne said.

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Would it be such a bad thing?" Rick asked.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing just a bad time."

Perhaps it wasn't the right time to be thinking about expanding their family, but the thought of the two them having a child together, a brother or sister for Carl and Judith made Rick smile. 


	13. Chapter 13 Jeremy Spoke in Class Today

Author's note: I'm trying something different with this chapter. As the plot thickens each characters POV chapters are becoming longer and longer. Long chapters are nice, but when chapters are too they become a chore to read, so I'm going to be posting Michonne, Rick and Carl's chapters separately.

**13\. Jeremy Spoke in Class Today**

As soon as his dad and Michonne left for their party Carl texted all of his friends to come over and bring some of their movies with them. The funny thing was he had more friends now than he did back home. Duane, Keisha and Tamekia felt like his old friends, and Brady and Brandon, Ben, and Travis felt like his new friends. While everyone was on their way to his place Carl set out pop, chips, and the pizzas he had baked moments before. He brought his sister's art desk into the living room and put it next to the couch so that she could sit there and color but not feel left out. By the time he had everything set up there was a knock at his door.

'What's up Carl?" Duane asked.

Carl stepped back and let Duane in. "Not much, did you bring any movies?"

Duane handed over the stack of movies in his hand. "If I knew I was going to be stuck in quarantine I'd of picked better movies."

Carl took the movies from Duane and put them on the table next to his stack of movies. Brady and Brandon showed up next. They both had a pile of movies that Carl put on the table next to the others. He figured when everyone got to his apartel that they could go through the movies and choose which one they wanted to watch first. Ben Paul and Travis were the last to arrive. Carl found Travis to be annoying because all he ever wanted to talk about was his dad who was in Special Forces. Almost every sentence he spoke started with my dad and ended in special forces.

"So what movie should we watch?"

Everyone began shouting their choices all at once. It took Carl ten minutes to get everyone to stop arguing and they still hadn't picked a movie. The only thing they voted on unanimously was that they didn't want to see Travis's pick, American Sniper. In the end they ended up watching Duane's bootleg copy of Werewolves of London.

"What should we watch next?" Carl asked. He dropped his pizza crust on his plate and wiped his hands off on his jeans.

"Gross! Carl use a napkin." Keisha said handing him one.

"I don't want to watch another movie, Tamekia said, let's play truth or dare instead."

"Yeah." The twins chorused in agreement.

"We've probably seen all these movies anyway." Ben added.

"OK, but who wants to go first?" Carl asked.

"Tamekia since it was her idea." Keisha said.

"Fine, but that means you have to go next."

"So which one is it truth or dare?" Keisha asked.

"Dare."

"I dare you to go across the hall and ask one of the neighbors if you can borrow their microwave." Keisha said.

"Oh my god you are so stupid."

"Do it or do a double dare." Keisha demanded.

"All right. All right I'll do it." Tamekia said. "You and your wack ideas."

Carl cracked open the door and everyone huddled together and peeked out as Tamekia knocked on a random door across the hall. An elderly man with a walker answered the door.

"Excuse me kind sir, I'm sorry to trouble you on this good eve, but may I perchance borrow your microwave?"

"She's a damn fool." Duane said.

"Mah microwave? The elderly man said loudly. "Ya need to borrow some gotdamn manners is what ya need to do. Ya half raised heathen, ya gotdamn kids always knockin on mah gotdamn door fo' some gotdamn foolishness!" The old man shouted and then slammed the door in her face.

Tamekia ran back into the apartel and Carl shut the door behind her and fell against it shaking with laughter. Everyone was laughing, but Keisha was laughing the hardest. She lie on the floor doubled over with laughter.

"Oh shit you pissed him off." Duane announced. "He's probably gonna have a heart attack and die and it's all your fault."

"Your turn now." Tamekia said to her cousin. "Truth or dare?" There was a wicked smirk on her faced when she asked.

Keisha sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Dare." She said but sounded nervous.

Carl couldn't blame her he'd be nervous too.

Tamekia tapped her finger to her lips in thought."I got it! I dare you to do a cannon ball off the high dive at the pool with all your clothes on."

Everyone looked to Keisha to see what her reaction would be.

"Fine, she said getting calmly to her feet, but I'm taking off my shoes, I'm not about to ruin a pair of Jimmy Choo's for a dare, and I'm wearing a swim cap, cuz I'm not about to get my hair wet."

"Whatever so long as you do it, or else you have to do-"

"I know heifer." Keisha said putting up her hand.

Carl's mouth dropped open was she really going to do it? Everyone rushed to his front door eager to follow Keisha out, but Carl hesitated his dad had told him not to leave their apartel.

"C'mon man I don't want to miss this." Duane said.

"I know,but my dad told me not to leave. I don't think he wants me roaming around because I'm watching Jude."

"For real Carl? C'mon man I know you don't always listen to your pops, besides how's he gonna go out to a party, but tell you that you gotta stay home?"

Carl felt a sudden wave of indignation wash over him. Duane was right why shouldn't he be allowed to go out? He wasn't a baby or even a child anymore, or at least that's what his dad told him whenever he decided he wanted Carl to be a grown up. "I'll have to bring Jude with me."

"No shit man like you were going to leave her here all by herself." Duane replied.

Carl had to laugh at himself or being stupid.

Duane looked at Carl and shook his head. "Come on you goofy motherfucker."

All nine of them piled into the elevator and rode it up to Keisha's suite so that she could get her swim cap. It was amazing to see her stuff all of her thick curly hair into that tiny cap. Once she was sure she had every single strand of her hair tucked into the cap they headed back down to the swimming pool.

The pool was more crowded than Carl had suspected it would be, and he wondered if all the people in the pool would cause Keisha to lose her nerve and go back on her dare.

"Ya'll ready for this?" She asked.

Apparently not. Carl thought.

"Quit stalling and start climbing." Tamekia answered.

Without further ceremony Keisha began to climb the ladder to the top of the diving board. When she reached the top she did a cute little wave from the platform.

"Hi Kitty." Jude called. Carl sighed it didn't matter how many times he told his little sister that Keisha's name wasn't Kitty, she still called her that anyway.

"Hey you up there!" The same lifeguard who had yelled at Carl when Jude ran around naked shouted. "You get down from there you can't swim without a swimsuit on." The life guard started towards the high dive.

Keisha didn't waste any time. She shouted "Cannon ball!" and then jumped yelling all the way down and making a nice sized splash. She backstroked to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

Everyone clapped and cheered. It didn't take much to excite them anymore.

Keisha wrung her clothes out and then did a little bow. "Thank you, thank you. No photographs please."

"My turn! Me next!" His sister shouted.

"I don't think so." Carl said. He was still not over the incident were her diaper had clogged the kitty fountain.

"You kids get out of here, and don't come back until you've all got on swim suits." The lifeguard yelled. "I'm watching you young man." He said pointing two fingers at his own eyes and then pointing those same two fingers at Carl.

"Man he's got it in for you." Brady said.

"My dad would have put him in his place. They don't tolerate that kind of disrespect in special forces."

Duane looked at Carl and rolled his eyes.

After leaving the pool they all headed back to Carl's place.

Keisha squished and dripped a rivulet all the way down the hall.

"Mind if I take a shower?" Keisha asked.

"Of course not. There's plenty of towels in the bathroom closet.":Carl told her.

"Thanks but I'll need a change of clothes, I really don't feel like going upstairs all wet and gross."

"I'll see what I can find." In his room he found a pair of cut off sweat pants that no longer fit him and his Blood Fang t-shirt. He been wearing his Blood Fang t-shirt when he first met Keisha, and even though their first meeting wasn't that long ago it felt like a lifetime to Carl. He went to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "I got some clothes for you."

"Thanks." Keisha said sticking her hand out through the slightly opened bathroom door. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed. "You were wearing this shirt when we first met."

"Yeah I remember because you had to wear that punk ass Death Fang t-shirt." A moment later a pillow flew across the room and hit Carl in the back of the head. He spun around to see who threw it. It was Tamekia of course.

"Death Fang isn't a punk ass Carl, you are." She said.

The three of them and Duane started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Travis wanted to know.

"Nothing, it's kind of an inside joke." Carl explained.

Keisha stepped out of the bathroom showered, dried, and fully dressed. "All right Carl it's your turn, which one is it truth or dare?"

"Truth." Carl said because everyone else had picked dare.

"Chicken." Brandon called out and flapped his arms like wings.

'Fine dare!"

"Oh no, now you gotta take the double dare." Tamekia said.

Carl rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"I dare you to go up to the roof, stand on the ledge and pull down your pants stick out your bare ass, and shout at the top of your lungs, the world can kiss my pale white ass." Tamekia said.

"I'll do it." Carl said. There was no way he was going to be the first one to go back on his dare.

Once again all nine of them piled into the elevator. The national guards were no longer posted on the roof now that they had put a stop to Carl and his friends chucking objects off of the roof top. Despite not being able to throw things off the roof they still liked hanging out up there. Shawn had built a pigeon coop and it was fun to feed the pigeons and let them fly around. Ben liked to sing to the birds, and the birds liked his singing. Something about his baritone voice seem to sooth them.

"You know that you don't have to do this." Ben said as Carl climbed up on the ledge of the building. "It's awfully high up."

"We sit on the ledge all the time." Carl told him. "Why should now be any different just because I'm gonna stand up and show my ass?"

"Lterally and figuratively." Keisha agreed.

The ledge was so wide that the only way to fall was if you were trying to, or if someone pushed you. He and his friends often sat on it watching the sun rise or set, or while doing their home work. Looking out over the empty city below and imagining what it would be like to freely roam the empty streets was the closest thing they had to freedom since being trapped inside of the Q.U.A.D.

Carl finally stood up to his full height with his front facing his friends and his back facing the city below. He closed his eyes trying to garner up the nerve to depants and show the world what his momma had given him. He took his belt out of the tab and let his pants drop then yanked the back half of his boxers down, no way was he going to show off more than that, and yelled "THE WORLD CAN KISS MY PALE WHITE ASS!" He slapped his cheeks for emphasis.

"I cannot believe you just did that." The twins said in unison.

Carl quickly pulled his pants back up and buckled his belt.

"You bad!" Jude shouted at him from the safety of Keisha's arms."You said a bad word!"

"Don't tell dad Jude, OK." Carl said. "You can watch Babe when we get back."

"The shame of it all bribing a baby." Duane chastised.

"I not a baby!" Jude snapped.

Duane laughed. "She got me together."

Carl jumped off of the ledge. "Now that you've all seen my pale white ass let's go back inside." He said. He didn't think his father and Michonne would be home yet, but just in case they were he didn't want to be caught outside.

True to his word once they got to his place Carl put babe in the DVD player for his sister. Then he dared Ben to eat a piece of pizza covered with jalapenos which he did and turned redder than a boiled lobster and had a coughing fit.

"I'll never be able to sing again." He moaned while he roll around on the floor. "I'm going to die. I swear I'm going to die"

"My dad always says drinking some milk will help, Ben, and trust me he knows what he's talking about because they always pull crazy stunts like this in special forces."

Carl sighed inwardly. Perhaps the reason that Travis talked about his father so much was because he wasn't here. None of Travis or Ben's family was here with them. Ben had told Carl that their families were back in Stone Mountain and they had no idea what happened to them. They only had their show choir teacher with them. Carl couldn't imagine what that must be like. As bad as things were at least he had his father, his sister and Michonne, who might as well be his mother now.

Keisha got Ben a glass of milk and helped him to sit up and drink it. "I don't think we should do anymore dares like this. Someone could get really hurt."

They decided to give up playing truth or dare and played Uno instead. The game quickly turned into a game of revenge. Everyone started throwing down draw twos and fours, skips and reverses There were so many reverses thrown down that no one could remember the order in which they were supposed to play.

"I think it's my turn." Duane said. "The game is going clockwise, right?"

"No I think it's my turn because after Travis put down a reverse then Keisha did." Brandon explained.

"So then it is my turn because then it would go right back to me, right?" Duane asked.

"Wait didn't someone throw a reverse before that though?" Carl asked.

Tamekia put her head down on the table. "I'm so confused."

"It's not confusing Duane is next." Ben said.

"No, Brandon is." Brady said.

"Of course your going to say he's next." Carl pointed out. "He's your twin."

An argument broke out and instead of finishing the game they ended up running around Carl's apartel throwing Uno cards at each other. Even his little sister joined in. Carl put her on his shoulders and galloped around while she threw cards at everyone.

"Draw four off the floor." Keisha shouted throwing a pile of cards at Carl.

"Draw two off your shoe!" Carl shouted back and threw his own cards back at her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such stupid fun.

Monday everyone in his class was still talking about how much fun they had hanging out at his apartel. Everyone except a girl named Jenny Pitcher who never hung out with anyone. She just cried a lot, and of course Jeremy Tramer who Carl had not bothered to invite. Jeremy continued to be a thorn in Carl's side and the biggest dick in their class. So much so that he had earned the nick name King Jeremy the Wicked. Even their teachers didn't seem to like him but were forced to teach him anyway.

"Thanks for helping to stay and clean up." Carl said to Keisha and Tamekia as they walked to class.

"It was no problem, actually it was really fun especially when you-"

"Hey Caaaaaarl." A voice called out. "Caaaaaarl." Jeremy called out cutting Keisha off mid sentence.

Jeremy was not happy that he had not been invited to Carl's party and he was going to make sure that he knew it.

"Just ignore him." Keisha said.

"You can't ignore me Caaaaaarl." Jeremy called out.

"If I keep ignoring him he'll never leave me alone." Carl said getting on the elevator and pushing the doors shut before Jeremy, who was walking behind them, had a chance to board.

"I say kick his ass and call it a day." Tamekia said.

In a perfect world Carl thought, but just like Nick had been, Jeremy was both taller and bigger than Carl. If they got in a fight Carl didn't like his odds.

"Don't tell him to fight." Keisha said as they entered the class room. "He'll get in trouble."

"Why not? Someone needs to kick his ass." Tamekia said. "Beside how much trouble can he get into?"

"They might throw him to those brain dead cannibals, Keisha said, or they might make him listen to Katy Perry's entire discography."

"I'd rather be eaten by brain dead cannibals." Carl replied.

"That sounds like the name of a 90's grunge band." Tamekia said.

A second later Jeremy entered the class room. He walked down the aisle between the desks with his hands straight up in the air. "Don't shoot!" He cried loudly when he noticed that everyone was looking at him. "That's my impression of your dad's girlfriend walking down the aisle at her wedding, Caaaaaarl."

"Shut the fuck up." Carl said getting up from his desk.

"Why?" Jeremy asked getting right into Carl's face. "Is your dad going to use me for target practice, or is that why you have so many black friends?" He asked and laughed obnoxiously.

Carl knew despite what Keisha, teachers, and his father told him, ignoring a bully wouldn't make them go away. If Duane were here Jeremy wouldn't be picking on him like this. He was only a bully to people he could bully.

"How about I use your ugly fucking face as target practice for my fist." Carl threatened. He didn't care at this point if he did get his ass kicked, there was no way he was going to continue to let Jeremy bully him.

"You want a piece of me, bitch?" Jeremy asked shoving him hard. Carl flew back into the desks behind him knocking them askew.

"Don't fight!" Keisha cried and covered her mouth with her hands.

Carl jumped up and grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt.

"Ay! Ay! Knock it off!" Mr. Royce snapped. He pulled Carl and Jeremy apart and stood between them. "Now what's this all about?" He asked.

"Nothing." Carl and Jeremy said in unison.

"Well then sit down and act like you got some damn sense. Ya'll want to knock each other out do it in the parking lot after school. "

Carl stomped over to his desk and threw himself into his chair.

"Yo, man what I miss?" Duane who'd come into class late asked when he sat beside Carl.

"Jeremy being a racist bullying jerk." Keisha said.

"You want me to kick his ass man?"

"Wouldn't do any good, and I wouldn't have you fighting my battles anyway."

"That's decent." Duane said.

During lunch the twins Brady and Brandon sat down on either side of Carl. He noticed that they sat down exactly the same way at exactly the same time. It must have been a twin thing. "We want to help you defend yourself against Jerkemy." Brandon said. Or at least Carl thought it was Brandon he couldn't tell them apart because they were wearing matching outfits. "If you want we can show you some moves."

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Carl said. He remembered that Duane had said they were on the wrestling team.

"We go to the gym everyday to lift weights you could lift with us if you want."

"Yeah I'll do it." Carl agreed.

So everyday after school, and after he finished his homework, he couldn't get out of that because Michonne always checked his work, Carl went with Brady and Brandon to the gym to work out. They were like two teenaged drill sergeants. They wouldn't let him get out of lifting weights that they thought he should be able to lift. They gave him chalky protein shakes to drink and nasty protein bars to eat. When they weren't forcing weights in his hands or shakes down his throat they were teaching him wrestling moves and how to escape holds. When he got home he took his shirt off and looked at himself in the mirror and wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed that he started balking up. So far he had the same chicken chest and scrawny arms he'd always had. It was going to take him way too long to build up enough muscle mass to take on Jeremy, but that didn't mean he couldn't learn how to fight.

Shane used to box and Carl knew that if he asked Shane how to fight that Shane would teach him and wouldn't tell his dad or Michonne about it either. He didn't want either of them to know because then they would worry about him instead of getting ready for their wedding. So one day after a grueling session with the twins Carl stopped by Shane's before going home.

"Can you teach me how to fight?" Carl asked Shane.

"What do you want to know that for?" Shane asked.

"Lately it just feels like something I should learn, and I know you used to box"

"You're right about that." Shane said and started boxing the air. "Come on I'll take ya to the gym and show ya what I know."

Shane found some boxing gear in the gym that would fit Carl. Then he took him out to the ring and showed him how to jab and block. After Shane figured that Carl had the jab down they started a sparring match. Even though it was only a sparring match Shane didn't go easy on Carl. If Carl left himself open Shane would strike and not lightly either. More than once Shane knocked Carl on his ass.

It made Carl angry that he couldn't land a blow. He started to swing widely out of anger just once wanting to hit Shane.

"Stop. Stop. Stop." Shane demanded.

Angrily Carl took of his head gear and tossed it to the ground. "This is a waste of time. I suck at this!"

"I'll tell you when it's a waste of time." Shane said. "Stop fighting your emotions first of all. Your wasting all of you're energy with those wild swings."

Carl bit his lip and didn't say anything even though he wanted to cuss Shane out for all the times he'd been knocked on his ass. How did Shane expect him to land a blow when he was older, bigger, and more experienced?

"Don't square up so much." Shane commanded and positioned his arms and legs until he was in the stance he wanted Carl in."Don't throw punches you don't intend to land, wait for an opening and then take it, and when ya do make the hit count." Shane went over the basics with him again. Everything from breathing to eye contact. "Much better." Shane said as they continued on with their sparring match.

Carl had taken all of Shaen's advice to heart, and when he saw an opening he took it. He swung out and landed a full strength jab to Shane's solar plexus. He smiled when he heard Shane grunt. Finally he managed to land a blow!

"Nice one! There's hope for you yet." Shane said. "Now c'mon tell me why you really wanna learn to box." He handed Carl a bottle of water and motion for him to sit down.

Carl ducked under the ropes and sat on the edge of the boxing ring and Shane sat next to him. He didn't say anything right away even though he knew Shane wouldn't tell his father the real reason he wanted to learn to box, he just felt too embarrassed to talk about it.

"Some kid picking on you?"

Carl nodded and hung his head in shame. "This kid named Jeremy, but it happened a lot at my old school too. I didn't tell dad then because mom had just died and I didn't want to worry him, and now he's getting married and I don't want to mess that up, that and it's kind of embarrassing."

"I admire you not wanting to bother your folks, but they would want to know, Shane told him, but ya told me and the two of us will take care of it together all right." Shane said.

"All right." Carl said.

"Good, I'll let ya in on another little secret too."

"Really, what's that?"

"First ya got to promise me ya won't tell anyone, and I do mean anyone, not even your friends."

"I promise." Carl said. "You know I can keep a secret."

"All right then follow me, and remember not a world to anyone."

Carl crossed his heart. He followed Shane curious as to what it was that he was going to show him that he had to be so secretive about. He followed Shane to the Q.U.A.D where they took an elevator down to the receiving dock.

"What are you going to do teach me how to stack boxes or something? This isn't going to be one of those wax on wax off type of things where you're really just trying to get me to do your work for you is it?"

"Carl shut the hell up you talk too damn much." Shane said shaking his head. "Do I look like Mr. Miyagi to you?"

"No."

"I'm not bringing you down here to teach you karate, Carl. I brought you down here to teach you how to kill biters."

Carl's mouth dropped open and he stared at Shane a full minute before he was able to compose himself enough to speak. "Biters? You mean like one of those things my dad hit with his car?"

Shane nodded. "I mean exactly like that."


	14. Chapter 14 The QUAD Squad

**14\. The Q.U.A.D Squad  
**

Michonne jumped, startled out of her sleep beside her Rick woke up with a start too. A loud computerized voice speaking over the intercom system that had been installed in the hotel rent their peaceful slumber apart: To all residents of the Peach Blossom Hotel this is a mandatory evacuation notice. All residents of the Peach Blossom Hotel must vacate the premises immediately.

"What in the hell, is this real?" Rick asked.

"Sssh!" Michonne hissed.

Do not stop to collect any items from your apartel. If you are not in your apartel do not return to your apartel at this time. Find your floor captain. Your floor captain will direct you to your designated safety room. You must stay in your designated safety room until an all clear has been given.

The announcement kept going, but Michonne was no longer listening to it. She leaped out of bed and began pulling her clothes on. Rick quickly followed. They both had one thing on their mind. Their children. She hurried into the hallway to see that Carl was coming out of his room with his sister in his arms.

"What's going on?" Carl asked.

"We don't know yet." Michonne said and reached out and hugged Judith and then Carl. She was glad that he always had the presence of mind to lookout for his little sister.

"Carl can you get Jude dressed quickly and then meet us in the living room." Rick asked.

Once he was gone Rick turned to Michonne "Whatever this is we'll get through it."

"I know we will."

Rick took her hand and lead her into the living room. They sat side by side on the couch holding hands and waiting on Carl and Judith.

"Hey open up it's me." Shane called from the other side of the front door.

Rick got off the couch and open the door to let Shane in.

He stepped inside suited up in full riot gear.

"What's going on?" Rick asked.

"The city of Calbert is out there attacking the fence."

"Is it a riot?" Rick asked.

"Let me rephrase that, the undead city of Calbert is attacking the fence."

Michonne gasped. "The whole city is infected?"

Naw, only about a third of the city, but still."

"How?"

"From what I heard someone got bit at the high school and the army went over there in it's undead meat wagon to collect the body, but something went wrong and the biters they already had in their armored car got out and the shit hit the fan."

"What can I do to help?" Rick asked.

"The Master Sargent wants us at the fence line."

"I'm there." Rick said.

"Wait! Michonne grabbed Rick's wrist. "You can't just leave without talking to Carl and Judith think of how scared they must be."

"You're right Sorry I wasn't thinking."

When Carl and Judith came into the living room Rick hugged them both.

Carl brushed off his father's hug and asked Shane. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Biters." Shane said. "They're out at the fence trying to tear it down."

Carl drop suddenly to the couch as if his knees had given out on him, and Michonne noticed that he had turned noticeably paler.

"They're here?" He asked.

"Don't worry your dad and I are gonna get 'em."

"No!" Carl shouted. "When you got shot you almost died, and now you want to try to kill those things so you can die, no way."

"Carl." Rick said his mouth fell open and stayed that way. He stared at his son as though he suddenly morphed into someone else.

"You just want to leave us behind."

"I'm not gonna leave you behind. I would never leave you behind. Carl where the hell is all this coming from?"

"We gotta go." Shane barked. "C'mon."

Rick ignored Shane and walked over to Carl. "I'm trying to keep you safe. I'll be back." He said. "Until then I want you to listen to what Michonne tells you and look after your little sister."

"OK." Carl said. He stood with his arms folded across his chest and refused to look at his father.

Shane lead them into the hallway and they merged into the flow of human traffic. For the first time ever the military was in the hotel. Soldiers lined the walls. A few of them had dogs. All of them were holding guns and none of them were smiling.

Michonne shuttered and kept her eyes forward and her arms wrapped tightly around Judith.

There was a young woman at the door of the safety room who scanned their badges with a bored look on her face.

Rick walked them over to a secluded spot so that he could say his goodbye. "I love all of you. Sit tight until I see you again." Rick said. He kissed all of them once again.

"Let's go!" Shane ordered. "You gotta suit up."

"Gotta go. Gotta do this thing." Rick said to Michonne.

Michonne pulled him back and kissed him like her life depended on it. "You're coming back."

"I will, for my family, you know I will." Rick told her and then walked off to catch up with Shane who'd impatiently left him behind.

Michonne watched them both until they disappeared out the door. "Are you OK Carl?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does. Carl you can come to me for anything."

"Really it's fine. He's out there now and there's nothing that I can do about it."

Michonne pressed her lips together. Carl was always so worried about losing his father, but she knew that there was nothing that she could say to him that would make him feel better.

"Michonne!" From across the room Amy waved at her and made her way over.

"Where's Rick?" Amy asked.

"He's been recruited to help out with the biter situation."

"Oh wow, that's crazy."

"Rick will be all right."

"Right. I'm over there with Annalise and Carley." Amy told her. "We're all hanging out in the common room, want to join us?"

"Of course." Michonne said.

"Amy turned to Carl. "Duane and your other friends are there too."

"Can I go over?"

"Go ahead, but stay in the common room." Michonne said to Carl.

He nodded and went off to meet his friends.

"How's he holding up?"

"I think he was scared senseless even before Rick went off to help at the fence line, but he's trying to be tough because Rick is being tough."

"Poor little guy."

"Do me a favor and don't ever let him hear you call him that."

Michonne walked with Amy to the common room and found the others sitting and watching TV. Judith squirmed in her arms and Michonne set her down. She climbed up on the couch and pulled some of her zoo animals out of her pockets and began to play with them. This was just another day in her life. Michonne hated what Judith was having to become used to.

Carl sat off in a corner with his friends. Duane was talking to Carl and whatever he was telling him he seemed to be agreeing with because he was nodding a lot. Keisha sat on the other side of Carl with her arm around his shoulder.

At least he had some sort of support system outside of her Michonne thought . She wished it was her that he would open up to, but she understood why he didn't always.

"You know, this attack has got me wondering, what happens if what went on at that rec center went on here?" Morgan asked. "If there is an attack on this place and we do survive, what next?"

"Rick and I have been talking about making plans in case we'd ever have to leave this place, but I think we should all collaborate and make plans together. Now more than ever we need to become allies."

"I think we do too." Tyreese agreed.

"So what, we're forming a squad?" Carley asked. "We all stick together no matter what. I like it. I'm in."

"I think I'm a little too old to be in a squad let's say we're forming an emergency preparedness committee." Morgan said.

"We could be called the quad squad though." Tyreese replied happily.

"Should we like all put our hands in or something?" Shawn asked. "You know, to make it official."

"Yeah we should definitely symbolize our partnership some how, but let's wait till Rick and Shane are here." Tyreese said. "We need the whole squad."

Please let them get back safe. Michonne prayed. Rick always thought he needed to protect everyone else, but who was protecting him? She wanted to, but he acted as if the weight of the world was his responsibility alone.

"So now that we're an official squad do you think we could manage holding a meeting once a week?" Michonne asked.

"Good idea, and let's have our children sit in. They need to be informed as well." Annalise said.

"We'll have the meetings in our suite." Tyreese volunteered.

As time went by they made more and more plans for their weekly meetings, which they would hold on Sunday. Michonne tried to keep her mind on the plans, but she kept thinking of Rick out there killing biters. Why had she let Rick go? She should have made him stay. She didn't want to pigeonhole him, but she didn't want him dead either.

Three hours later everyone was finally released from lock down. They were three of the longest hours of Michonne's life. After leaving the safety room everyone was escorted directly back to their apartels floor by floor.

It was a quarter til six when the trio got back home. Judith was asleep in Michonne's arms. She'd have to put her to bed knowing it would throw off her sleep schedule, but there was nothing she could do.

"Well I'm glad that's over." Michonne announced once she was ensconced in the security of home. "Thank goodness there were no casualties. It's the only good thing to come out of all of this." Michonne told Carl. No injuries. No casualties. No deaths. Rick was safe.

"You forgot about school being canceled for the rest of the week." Carl reminded her.

"You can still learn. How about sitting in on my next tutoring session with Sarah?"

"OK, I saw Sarah during lock down she looked tranquilized or something."

"Her father probably gave her a sedative so that she wouldn't panic, but I don't think his being so overprotective of Sarah is doing her any favors. She's a lot smarter than he gives her credit for."

"Dad can be like that sometimes. He acts like I'm still at the age I was when my mom died."

"He can be overprotective at times, but your dad is so afraid of messing up again that sometimes he can't see the forest for the trees. He sees you as the little boy he needs to protect, but he can't see how you've grown into someone who can protect them self."

"I wish he would. I wish he wouldn't keep things from me because he thinks I can't handle them."

"What things?" Michonne wanted to know.

"Never mind it's not important." He said and then disappeared into his room.

Michonne watched him go and wondered what things Carl was talking about. Did he know about his father killing biters before now, or was he talking about something else? If he did know she wondered how? No one would have told Carl about bite club, so how could he know? Perhaps she was feeling paranoid because of the attack on the fence line. She would feel much better once Rick came back home and they were all together again.

When Rick finally did come back home Michonne ran into his arms. She was so happy to be able to hold him. So happy that he'd return to them unharmed.

"Everything is OK Rick said into her ear as he hugged her tightly. To Carl he said. "Told you I was coming back."

"Did you kill any of those things?" Carl wanted to know.

"I did. I had too, but as much as we want to think of them as things, they were once people."

"How did you know how to kill them?" Carl asked.

Michonne looked at Rick. Would he lie to Carl or tell him the truth?

"I didn't it's something I had to learn."

Not a lie just an omission. A HUGE omission.

"Will they come back?" Carl asked.

"No Carl, they're gone. They won't come back."

Neither Michonne or Rick felt like cooking so they had leftovers. After a quiet picked over dinner Carl took the trash to the incinerator and then slumped off into his room. Rick washed the dishes and Michonne dried , and as she dried them she thought of how best to bring up her suspicions about Carl to Rick. There was no time like the present to start flexing her wifely muscles.

"Have you talked with Carl lately?" Michonne asked Rick.

"No, why?"

"I think you need to. He's getting older and he's getting better at finding out when you're hiding things from him."

"What am I supposed to do tell him about killing biters?"

"No, but you're not supposed to lie to him either." She set a sauce pan on the draining board. "I'm not going to lie to him, not anymore."

"He knows now that's enough." Rick responded.

"He knows that you're not telling him the whole truth. Don't let him find out on his own "

"He's only thirteen" Rick said and broke down and sobbed. He dropped the pan he'd been washing in the sink and a wave of soapy water splashed over the front of his shirt. "He was just getting his childhood back, and now it's too late. We can't stop this." Rick sniffed his tears away and wiped the front of his shirt with a dish towel. "How do I tell him that this is the end of the world and not all of us are going to make it?"

Michonne held him as he cried. "You don't, we do." Michonne assured him. "We tell him that we're going to do everything we can to survive, but that we might not, that he might not."

"If there hadn't been so many of us those biters would have broken that fence down easily. Biters might not be a problem on their own, but in a large group they're dangerous. I killed them, but I was scared Michonne. It's like the tides have turned and now we're on the bottom of the food chain."

"Did they repair the fence?"

"As best they could. For now they've put extra patrols. We 'll be safe." Rick kissed her forehead.

"Let's go to bed and when we wake up tomorrow it'll be the first day of our vacation." Michonne bribed.

Because their wedding was coming up at the end of the week the both of them had been given vacation time. Amy and Deann would run the daycare for Michonne, and Shane would have a temporary partner until Rick came back. As a wedding gift they'd been granted the use of the top floor penthouse suite for their honeymoon.

Despite the bliss of lounging in bed all day tomorrow neither she nor Rick could sleep. They tossed and turned in tandem

"OK, this is counter productive, Michonne finally said. "This sleep thing isn't happening. I'm going to check in on Judith she'll probably be waking up soon."

"Right behind you."

Michonne made the bed, they wouldn't be returning to it anytime soon.

Carl and Judith weren't sleeping. Both of them were sitting at the table in their room playing pop the pig.

"We couldn't sleep." Carl informed them.

"Can we play?" Rick asked.

"We can all play!" Judith cried.

Rick brought in two chairs and they sat down to play pop the pig.

"I want some cereal, can we have some cereal?" Carl asked.

"I don't see why not." Rick said

"Can we eat in here." Judith asked.

"Of course." Michonne agreed.

In the kitchen everyone picked out their favorite cereals and bowls and took their horde back into the bedroom to play pop the pig at 1:33 in the morning.

* * *

Michonne opened her front door, saw a notice taped to it, read it, and groaned.

"What is it?" Rick asked.

She pulled the paper off the door and handed it to Rick. "Another damn mandatory meeting. You know I'm getting really sick of all these meetings."

Rick tossed the paper in the kitchen trash. "Come on it's not as bad as all that, at least we're on vacation."

"I don't care after being locked up for three hours yesterday I don't want anything else to have to do with The Master Sargent."

"Do you think this meeting has something to do with the attack yesterday?" Rick asked.

"If not the Master Sargent has some really uncanny timing."

So, like so many times before, Michonne and her family schlepped to the convention center to be unwilling members of a captive audience. They sat in the same row and the same seats they always did, as did most people. They didn't have assigned seats, but they assigned themselves seats anyway.

The Master Sargent was back to his old tricks. Without any niceties he dropped the bomb on them. "We have been handed down orders from homeland security to vacate the city of Calbert. The residents of Calbert never wanted the Q.U.A.D in their city in the first place, and relationships have been tense ever since, and as you can imagine the attack on the rec center did zero in the way of improving relations. Therefore at the end of next month all of you will be given new housing assignments.

"Where ya moving us this time, a dumpster?" Shane shouted. "Ya can't keep moving us around like we're sheep."

"We don't want housing assignments we already have homes to go back too!" Shouted an angry voice from the crowd.

"If we can't go home we shouldn't have to leave here. This is our home too." A woman in the midde row shouted. Her voice was high and shrill. "This is our home!" She cried over and over. She clutched at the sides of her head as if she wanted to rip her hair from her scalp.

Others in the room picked up the chant. The chant seemed to give people the power to act, all around her people began to pop out of their seats like toast from a toaster. "This is our home!"

Michonne quickly picked Judith up off of the chair she was sleeping on.

"Grab on to my waist band." Rick told Michonne. "Carl grab on to Michonne's waist anything starts to go down we move for the nearest exit."

"This is our home!" The room began to chant louder and louder. "This is our home!" All over the auditorium people were standing up and joining in on the chant. Everyone in the row directly behind her stood up and their chairs pushed into the back of Michonne's knees.

"The world is in an universal state of emergency. You have no homes to go back to!" The Master Sargent shouted into his microphone.

"That's bullshit! We don't know how bad things are out there, we only know what you tell us." A tall muscular man two rows behind Michonne stood up and shouted. He was gripping the chair in front of him so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

Michonne prayed that he wasn't going to throw the chair across the room.

"You wouldn't be in here if you hadn't seen how horrible things were getting out there. Yesterday's attack is an example of how bad things are. I know that you are all upset, but there is no alternative. The order has been given and you will be moved into the overflow housing in the self-contained town of Shetland. I'm sure you'll find once you all become settled in that the town is very nice.

No one wanted to hear what the Master Sargent had to say. They had already been promised happiness once. An explosion of angry outburst broke out.

"We won't move again!"

"You can't keep doing this!"

"I want to see if my home has been looted, and bury my pets you forced me to leave behind."

"Yeah!"

Every second that passed got the crowd more and more riled up. Their anger crackled like electricity around the room. People had been pushed to their limit and Michonne wondered how much did the army think they could take?"

With one simple gesture from the Master Sargent the soldiers who'd been standing still as statues against the wall now stepped away from the wall, their guns were drawn and they turned and aimed them at the crowd.

"Please make no mistakes in your understanding, it is our prime objective to maintain your status as noninfected members of the population, but you are still under martial law and any threat against us will be handled swiftly and completely.""

The tall muscular man sat down without another word.

Not again Michonne thought. They were losing their home again. Their apartel may not have been their home, but she felt secure there. She had settled in there, in a way it was like her first home with Rick and the children. Though she hated to admit to herself she was afraid to move and face the outside world. She didn't really want to know how bad things had gotten. She didn't want to know how far removed from normalcy the world was.

Rick reached over and picked up her hand and squeezed it. Michonne squeezed his hand back. She looked over at Carl, who was holding his sister on his lap, and he didn't look upset. He looked like some years older who had been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The meeting had left Michonne, Rick, and their friends so worked up that they all decided to hold their first official emergency preparedness meeting. Since it was the very first meeting and they had no real plans yet, they let their children sit this one out. Carl disappeared into Keisha's room with his group of friends.

The adults gathered around the dining room table.

"So how official do we want to be?" Annalise asked. "Do we appoint officers, count minutes, take records?"

"I'll take notes. I don't mind." Michonne offered."

"We also need someone to direct our meetings." Annalise said.

"You seem to be doing a good job, I nominate you." Carley said.

"Well if no one else objects, I'll do it."

No one else did so Annalise became in charge of directing their meetings.

"So what should be the first order of business."

"The Move. I say fuck the move to Shetland." Shane said. "When they're transporting us we break the fuck loose."

"Shane be logical." Carley placed her hand on his chest. "Where would we go, we can't just escape without no place to go."

"We could meet up at my house." Tyreese said. "We got generators and enough room for everyone."

"Do you have enough food and water?" Michonne asked. "What about medicine or doctors?"

"Michonne has a point." Rick said. "We've got to think about Carl and Jude, We can't just drag them out into the world with the way things are now."

"I don't want to take my son out of these walls either, but I'm also afraid of what will happen to him under the governments' control." Morgan put in.

It was a catch 22. The world was in a worst case scenario, and every choice they made now was likely to have some kind of dire consequence.

"Well that crazy big man that kept yelling at that meeting did have a point." Shane said. "We don't know just how bad things are out there."

"Listen whatever you've been seeing on the TV the reality is ten times worse, besides the little news feeds we get, there's pretty much been a media blackout on the subject. It's just like with the Spanish flu." Carley spoke up.

"I'm scared to even ask, but how much worse are things?" Morgan wanted to know.

"If you're scared that means you're paying attention. I was working on blowing the truth about this virus wide open before I got jailed in this place, but hippa laws prevent me from doing any real digging, that and I kept getting stonewalled by the CDC."

"So, like what did you find out before you got locked up in here?" Amy asked.

"Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this so close to Rick and Michonne's wedding, and this isn't the kind if thing they want to hear about."

"No, no I rather hear the ugly truth than a beautiful lie, Michonne said. "Wait, she picked up her glass of wine and downed it, OK now tell me."

"All right, but remember you asked for the truth, Carley reminded her, all of us, and I do mean all of us are already infected with this virus."

"No way, how can that be?" Amy asked.

"It's like the shingles virus. The virus is already inside of us and when we die the virus turns us into a biter."

"How can you possibly know this?" Annalise asked.

"I talked to a lot of sources, a lot of them sounded like conspiracy theorist, but you talk to every source and one of them is bound to be right."

"How did you know your source was right though?" Michonne questioned.

"I know because he worked for the CDC and he went through a lot of trouble to tell me what he did."

"I can't believe it." Michonne said. "I can't believe we're all infected with the virus, so no matter how we die we'll be come one of those things?"

"I'm talking too much." Carley said and started rifling through her purse. "Damn! I really need a cigarette. I swore I would stop, and then I found out about this damn virus. Now everything is ka-blewy!" Carley shook and waved her hands. "Look if it's any consolation if someone destroys your brain before you die you won't come back as one of those things." She set her purse on the floor after she'd given up her search for a pack of cigarettes.

Michonne didn't say anything. She felt sick to her stomach. Becoming one of those things was her worse fear, and now she knew when she died her worst fears more than likely would come true.

"Are you OK Michonne?" Carley asked. "I feel awful. I should have just kept my big mouth shut."

"No I'd much rather know than not know."

"This virus has been going on for a long time. There was a particularly large outbreak in Vietnam that went ignored until the virus started reaching English speaking countries before anyone cared to start to combat it."

"It's like their still ignoring it. Jacqui didn't even mention how this virus brings people back from the dead. She didn't tell us that we're already infected with this goddamn virus."Michonne snapped.

"Jacqui didn't say anything because she doesn't see the point." Carley said. "It's that bad on the outside. I told you no one bothered to try to stop this virus until it started killing white people in the same rate it was killing brown people, and by then it was too late."

"We need to forget worrying about what we can't change, and plan for what we can." Michonne said. "I think we should plan on moving to Shetland, but also plan a way out in case we need to get out."

"Smartest woman in the room" Shane said.

Carley flicked Shane's ear.

"You deserved that." Michonne told him.

"My father's farm is close to Shetland." Shawn said. "If we have to run away we can all stay there. My dad will welcome everyone with open arms."

"You're still welcome at my house." Tyreese said.

"So we have two meet up points incase we get split up." Annalise said. "We need to map out routes of both those places and make sure everyone knows how to get to them."

"What else should we plan for?" Amy asked.

"I've been saving back a little bit of our rations every month, and right now It's enough so that when food starts getting scarce we'll be able to eat fairly well." Michonne confessed. "All of us should start saving our food back."

"We can make emergency backpacks that we keep buy our front doors." Annalise said. "Just in case we ever have to leave in a hurry again."

When the meeting ended Rick and Michonne collected their children and headed back up to their apartel. Michonne was not one for procrastination, and began packing everything they didn't need right now away.

"It's our vacation Michonne, you don't have to do that now. We'll do it later." Rick said.

"What later?" Michonne asked. "We've got a wedding coming up, two kids, and now weekly meetings to plan for. If we don't pack now it won't get done."

"Point well made." Rick said and started to help her pack.

Within five minutes of Rick's "helping" Michonne could see that packing was not Rick's strong point, and packing was not a project they would be doing together. He put bathroom things in the box clearly marked kitchen, he wrapped all their breakables in only one piece of newspaper, but the final straw was when he taped her hand to a box. Not wanting to hurt Rick's feeling and tell him how shit he was at packing, Michonne gave it up only to resume packing later that night when Rick was snoring away in dreamland beside her, and she couldn't sleep.

She started in the living room packing up books and bric-a-brac. She fell into a comfortable pace fueled by her own deep burning thoughts, but when Michonne heard Carl screaming she was up and running into his room before she even had a chance to fully realize her body was in motion.

Carl flipped on his bed side light as she entered his bedroom. He looked pale, sweaty, and shaken. His blankets were strewn all across his bed, and his comforter lay on the floor.

"Carl are you all right?" Michonne went to Carl's bedside and felt his cheeks and forehead. He wasn't running a fever.

"I just had a bad dream."

Michonne sat down on the edge of his bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"No."

Michonne nodded. Sometimes nightmares, like dreams, were just too personal to talk about.

"Could you stay though, you know just until I fall back asleep."

"Sure thing kiddo, would you like me to get anything for you?"

Carl shook his head. "I didn't even wake Jude up. I swear she can sleep through anything."

"So can her brother." Michonne said and gave Carl a playful shove. "Seems like forever since the two of us have had a chance to sit down and talk to each other."

"Yeah, everything is crazy with the wedding rehearsals and all." Carl said.

"I know things are changing, but that doesn't change things between us, you can still come to me for anything. Even if you're in trouble you can talk to me, OK."

"I was really hoping that we were going to be able to go back home, but I don't think that's ever going to happen. I've gotten used to this place but I don't think it will ever feel like a home."

"We might be able to go back home one day, but things will never feel the same again." Michonne warned him.

"We'd be home again though, when my mom died the house stopped feeling like a home, but when you started staying with us it started feeling like a home again, and now that it is gone. I don't know, I guess I never knew how much I liked having a home."

Michonne hugged Carl. It tugged at her heart strings every time she heard Carl wish for simple things. All he really wanted was stability, but every time he got a little bit it was taken away. She was thankful that they could still have their talks. At the very least that was some form of stability for him. She didn't give birth to Carl, but she loved him like he was her own son, and she loved Judith like she was her own daughter, and one day she hoped to give them a brother or sister, maybe one day when they had a place to call home again.

"You'll see your house again. I promise you."

"You can't promise something like that."

"Yes I can, because I just did." Michonne said and covered him with blankets and turned off his bed side light. "In the meantime we'll just make our next place feel like a home, you'll have your own room, and that's already an improvement."

"Jude can sleep in my room until she gets used to sleeping own room again if she wants to." Carl offered.

"You're a good brother, Michonne said. "I know you put those zoo animals in Judith's pocket, your dad and I don't say it often enough, but we're so proud of you."

"Michonne?" Carl called out sounding as if, to Michonne at least, that he was about to confess. Perhaps he was going to tell her what is nightmare was about.

"Yes."

"Nothing, I'm just glad you're my step-mom."

"I am too." She said but he didn't reply. Michonne waited a few minutes before calling his name, but he didn't answer, he had fallen back asleep.

Michonne sighed slowly and wondered which would happen first. Would Rick talk to Carl, or would Carl confront Rick? Whichever way it happened it was just the start of the winds of change that was stirring the storm that she could feel coming in the distance.


	15. Chapter 15Face the Strange Changes

R.I.P David Bowie

15.** Face the Strange Changes  
**

Carl woke up on his bedroom floor. Another nightmare had put him there, but at least this one hadn't woken up Michonne. He crept softly into the kitchen filled up a glass of water under the tap and drank it down. He was grateful that school was canceled for the rest of the week, because there was no way he could go back to sleep. He thought about telling Michonne about the nightmares he was having, but she was so busy with the wedding and with packing that he didn't want to bother her.

The older Carl got the more he realized that adults were always telling you to do things they didn't do themselves. Don't cuss. Say please and thank you. Treat others how you wanted to be treated, and the most important, don't lie. His father lied, Michonne lied, and when his mother had been alive, she lied too. All adults lied. The only adult in his life right now who had not lied to him was Shane.

When the biter had come for him Carl had froze like a deer in headlights. It was more than being scared, it was the look on the biters face. All the others he'd seen in their cages were growling and groaning, but the one that came for him, a boy about his age, seemed normal. When the undead boy had reached out for Carl it wasn't as if he was trying to bite Carl, it was more like the biter was pleading for understanding, or to be put out of it's misery.

Then it had grabbed on to the front of Carl's jumpsuit and stared it his face like it was trying to remember what it was to be human. Carl hadn't been able to stand the look on the biter's face. It was the same face Roy Wayne Paul's dog, Scrappy, made when it got hit by a car. Scrappy knew he was going to die, you could see it in his face, and he'd just whimpered and licked Roy Wayne Paul's hand until he died. Carl had hit the biter in the head with a baseball bat and kept on hitting it until he'd felt the crack of it's skull. The feeling of the crack had started in Carl's hand and traveled through his whole body. He reacted as if he'd been shot and flung the baseball bat as far away from him as possible. The bludgeoned body fell to the ground, and for the first time Carl noticed that the boy had been wearing a Werewolves of London t-shirt.

"You wanna try it again?" Shane asked when it was all over. "That one was a dud."

Carl's response had been to double over and vomit.

After that the nightmares had started. The young biter haunted him. He saw his face every time he closed his eyes at night. Felt him grabbing on to his shirt. He understood why his father didn't want to tell him about what he was doing, but he still didn't forgive him for lying to him. He couldn't forgive his father for always deciding what it was that he thought he could or couldn't handle. His dad thought he was damaged beyond repair no matter how mature and composed he acted.

When he was younger his dad had been his hero and he wanted to be just like him. He remembered in third grade when his dad had come in for career day. His dad told his class about the time he had stopped a robbery in progress, passed around his handcuffs, and then let everyone sit in his police cruiser. His entire class had thought his dad was the coolest. He felt so proud because all the other boys in his class had been jealous because their fathers had regular jobs like bankers and office managers, but his dad was a hero. He still thought his dad was a hero, but it didn't seem as wonderful as it did when he was a child now that he knew his father's heroism came with a hero complex. His dad needed him to be broken so that he could "save" him, and there for save himself from the guilt of feeling like an inept father who was turning out a broken son.

By comparison Shane acted as if he was mature enough to handle anything no matter how much he behaved like a thirteen year old. Michonne was playing the diplomat until she could get his dad to see the error of his ways. In school Michonne had overseen the peer mediation group, only none of the kids ended up going to each other to mediate their problems, they went to Michonne.

He couldn't go to Michonne, but he needed someone to talk to. he couldn't cope with this alone. He decided to tell Duane. He had been wanting to for some time, plus he was Carl's best friend and best friends told each other everything. He didn't want their to be secrets between him and Duane, at least not this secret. TIme passed tortuously slow as he waited until Duane woke. Finally he got a text from Duane asking if he was going to work in the garden later today. Carl texted Yes back, and checked it was OK to come over, and when Duane said it was OK, Carl rushed up to his apartel. He wanted to speak to Duane alone now that he had the chance. Later on in the day they were meeting Shawn in the garden to help pack up some of their produce and ration it out to the residents of the Q.U.A.D, and he'd have no way to talk to his friend without someone overhearing.

Carl could tell that Duane had just gotten out of bed when he saw him. He was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal and watching the local news channel in only his pajama bottoms.

"Hey man." Duane greeted.

"Hey." Carl said back and sat next to him on the couch. On the TV the news reporter was interviewing a woman named Jolene, who was upset that people in the rec center had been attacked while those in the Q.U.A.D remained safe. "We're out here like sittin ducks while them infected freaks live it up in their big ol' ivory tower." She screeched.

"Oh so being forced out of your home, eating scraps, and living in a building where the hallway smells like cat piss is living it up, well I'm glad you know bitch." Duane said.

Back on the TV Jolene pulled the microphone from the startled TV reporter and screamed into the camera. "It wasn't no accident! I seen 'em. I seen men in that truck-" The reporter wrestled his microphone back and took several quick steps away from Jolene.

"Well, that was intense." Carl said.

"I do feel bad that people were killed at the rec center though." Duane amended.

"Me too, but she's living on another planet if she thinks were living it up here." Carl replied.

"True, if they had interviewed your dad he wouldn't exactly say he was living it up."

Carl took the mention of his father as a segue. "You know your dad could have been out there at the fence line."

Duane muted the TV. "What in the hell Carl?"

He told Duane about the biters and how Shane showed him how to kill one. He even told him about his nightmares although he didn't go into details.

"Wow man that's some fucked up shit!" Duane said.

"He was our age." Carl replied. "I think that was the most fucked up part."

"You ever wonder what it feels like to turn into one of those things?" Duane asked. "Like can you feel yourself becoming less human?"

"I don't know I've never seen anyone turn, but one day I know I'll have too."

"If it's me put a bullet in my brain. I'm dead serious, man."

Carl nodded. "OK, but you've got to do the same for me."

They shook on it.

"Thanks for telling me. You didn't have to."

"No I had to, I would have gone crazy if I didn't, and I shouldn't have to lie to my best friend."

"Can't believe my pops was there. He knew too and didn't tell me." Duane shook his head. "Tyreese didn't tell Keisha or Tamekia. Parents are so shady."

"Well in their defense, they weren't supposed to be learning how to kill biters in the first place."

"Then why did Shane show you?" Duane wanted to know.

"Shane doesn't care about the rules. He's always kind of done what he's wanted to."

"You think he'd show me?"

"I don't know, but if he doesn't I promise I'll show you whatever I learn."

"Good looking out, man."

"Always." Carl replied.

Carl felt a lot better after talking to Duane. The two of them met Keisha and Tamekia in the cat walk and the foursome made their way down to the garden. Out of all the gardens he'd ever worked in, the one he and his friends were growing was by far the best. It wasn't just his bias that lead Carl to that conclusion, even the untrained eye could see that their garden was damn amazing. He took pride in that fact. He and his friends had worked hard on their little plot of earth, so even though school had been canceled, he and his friends went along with Shawn and worked on the garden, but at the end of next month they wouldn't have a garden to tend to anymore.

Once they moved to Shetland there would be no more rabbit run. No more elevator races. No more sunsets on the roof top. He still couldn't believe that Jude hadn't told on him for showing his ass. He knew that sooner or later that his father would find out, and that they would get into a fight about what he did. Every single bridge that he in his father started to rebuilt always got burnt down before they could finish rebuilding them. Would their relationship always be like this? He wondered as he and Duane walked over wooden planks and met Shawn in the middle of the garden.

"We've got a lot of produce to pick, wash off and pack away, and once we do that we need to make an inventory, and then load it up into my truck. We've got a lot to do so let's get to it!" Shawn said and clapped his hands. He was enthusiastic in such a genuine way that Carl always felt himself caught up in Shawn's good spirits.

Carl and Duane had the job of picking and packing cucumbers and Keisha and Tamekia were picking peppers. They all worked hard and fast, but Shawn encouraged them to drink lots of water and to take a brake when ever they felt like they needed one. It wasn't too hot outside yet so Carl kept working. He wanted to get the bulk of the work done before the heat really started to punish them. When the sun finally did come out in full force the four friends took their first break of the day, and made a beeline for the water cooler.

Duane stopped to pick two acorns off the ground along the way and shouted. "Hey Shawn you think these are OK for other people to eat, cuz I saw a squirrel with these." He held the acorns up, but Shawn was too far away to see.

"These what?" Shawn asked squinting to see what Shawn held.

"Deez nuts." Duane said.

He and Carl collapsed on each other helpless with laughter.

"I walked right into that one." Shawn managed to get out through his own laughter.

Keisha looked at her cousin and mouthed boys.

Carl was still laughing as he placed cucumbers into a crate. Once a crate was filled up with produce it was loaded into Shawn's truck. When the truck was full he and Duane hopped onto the tailgate, and Carl pounded on the side of the truck and Shawn drove to the gardener's maintenance building. Inside Ben and Travis washed and cleaned up all the produce they brought in, and the twins divided it up and packaged it into bundles for the rest of the Q.U.A.D. There was an over abundance of tomatoes so Carl, Duane, Keisha, and Tamekia all helped with their collection. He loved working outdoors for the same reason he liked writing, both activities constantly demanded attention of his five senses. He loved the feeling of dirt between his fingers and toes, and seeing all the bright colors of the garden, he savored the taste of the fresh veggies, but found it creepy the way he never heard birds singing anymore. Most of them had been eaten by biters. That was the world now. A world were monsters were real and could hurt you, but on a warm sunny day with your friends you could still enjoy what it had to offer.

Shawn called everyone to lunch at noon. He had dragged two picnic tables into one of the empty greenhouses so they didn't have to eat their lunch in the sun. Each picnic table had a red and white checked table cloth. There were platters of fruit, vegetables, potato salad, and fried chicken. To wash it all down Shawn had made fresh squeezed lemonade.

"I"m really proud of all of you. At the beginning of the year I asked you all to make this the best garden ever and you did. We have right here on these grounds the freshest garden in the world."

"There are probably like only three gardens left in the world right now, so that's not saying much." Brandon said.

Carl turned his head and looked through the chain link fence. It was going to be sad leaving this all behind, but at the same time he was excited to see the outside world. He'd been feeling like a caged rat for so long that sometimes he just wanted to break free and never come back. His dad was worried about being safe, but Carl just wanted to be free.

"Did you want some salad dressing, Carl?" Keisha asked.

Carl almost jumped. He'd been so lost in his own thought that he hadn't even felt her sit beside him.

"Shawn made them himself and they're really good."

He took a bottle of Greek dressing from her hand and poured some in his salad.

"It's so beautiful out here" Keisha sighed. "I think this would be a perfect place for your dad and Michonne's wedding."

"I was thinking the same thing. Tamekia said. "Michonne's dress is like made for an outdoor wedding." Tamekia agreed.

"I don't see why they couldn't have it here." Carl said. The wheels in his head were starting to turn. His parents, he had already started thinking of them as that in his head, wouldn't want a wedding thrown by the Master Sargent after everything he'd put them through. He couldn't get out of these walls in order to get them a wedding present, and even if he could he didn't have the money to buy something nice, not as nice as he wanted, but giving them the wedding that they really wanted was a gift even better than money could buy.

"Yes, a greenhouse wedding." Keisha squealed. "I'll tell my mom and she'll help us plan everything."

"We won't have enough time." Tamekia fretted.

"We will if everyone pitches in ." Shawn spoke up. "I'm willing to help out."

"You know I got your back." Duane said.

Carl smiled. These were the people who matter the most and they were the people who should be involved in the wedding.

"We're in!" the twins chorused.

Ben nodded.

"My dad says friends-" Travis began.

"Just say you'll help out." Tamekia said.

They only had four days to transform the garden and greenhouse into the perfect wedding venue. With everyone's help he knew that they could pull it off. Carl smiled. He felt like he was growing up, because even though he was mad as hell at his father, he still felt his father deserved a celebration. He'd been through so much in his life and for most of it his father had been the only one to see him through.

As soon as Carl and his friends finished packing up their produce Keisha texted her mom Carl's idea and she was down in the garden within ten minutes. She brought Tyreese, Shane, Carley, Amy, and Morgan with her. She immediately took charge and started assigning everyone a task.

"We'll keep the reception where it is." Annalise explained. "It'll be too much trouble to try and move it out here."

When they stopped working for the day it was because it was getting too dark to see. Carl was dead tired from stringing lights and moving furniture, but when you were dead tired you didn't have nightmares. After he wolfed down his dinner he fell into the deepest sleep he had in a long time. When he woke up in the morning he just grabbed a pop-tart and raced out the door before his parents could wake up. There were only three days left to get things in place, and they still had a lot of work to do. They had to take care of the lighting and the sound, and they had to finish setting up the seating for the rest of the guest. He was beginning to wonder if he bit off more than he could chew.

Carl raced down to the greenhouse ready to double his efforts in order to get everything done. When he got to the greenhouse he did a double take so hard he should have gotten whiplash. It looked like more than half of the Q.U.A.D had shown up to help transform the garden into a wedding venue.

Annalise walked up to Carl with a smile. "I promised anyone who volunteered a selfie and an autograph with my husband, even when the world's ending people can't resist a celebrity."

"Thanks, you're a genius." Carl told her.

"You're welcome." Annalise told him. "Would you mind helping with the alter?"

The alter was made out of a huge old ornate wooden swivel mirror they'd found in the hotel's basement. There had been no glass in it so Keisha and Tamekia had hung strings of origami butterflies and flowers from it, after Duane had spray painted it with glitter spray paint. Carl helped move it into place

"Ooh, Carl that is so beautiful." Keisha said as she came up to inspect the altar.

"Thanks, but all I did was move it around."

"No, you put this whole thing together."

"I hope my dad won't be upset."

"He won't, how could he be this place feels magical. I know this doesn't change anything, but you're making this place feel like something else even if it's only for one day."

Carl smiled.

"Save me a dance at the wedding." She said and walked away. Carl watched her walk away. Tomorrow he promised he would let himself have fun. Not like he had on the rooftop, that hadn't been letting him self go, that had been rebelling. A big middle finger to the situation he was stuck in, but at the wedding he would enjoy living.

Everything was changing, but he was getting used to it. His life had not stopped changing since the day his mother had died. Change couldn't be stopped any more than the virus could. The virus was a ticking time bomb strapped to them all. It was always counting down no matter what they did, but after awhile you got used to it by adapting. He was adapting, he was growing, and he was learning how to navigate in this new world, and now that he was leaving their shelter behind for the outside, all he had to do was figure out how to get his dad to adapt to the new world.


	16. Chapter 16 Meet Me at the Altar in Your

_Happy Birthday Danai Jekesai Gurira_

**16\. Meet Me at The Alter in Your White Dress  
**

"Sorry we're going to be stuck in here for our honeymoon, although Shane did say he was working on something special for us." Rick said to Michonne who was lying on their bed flipping through an old magazine.

"Well if there's one thing I know about Shane is that he's determined, whatever he's got planned I'm sure he'll come through, but really I don't care as long as you and I get to be alone together, and the penthouse has a hot tub."

"Don't pack any clothes they'd just slow me down." Rick said and leaned over and kissed her on the lips as he groped her breasts through the t-shirt of his that she was wearing.

"Can I come in?" Carl called from the other side of their door.

Rick pulled his mouth away from Michonne's. "No, go away!"

Michonne laughed and pulled on her robe. "Don't pay any attention to your dad, come on in Carl."

A second later Carl opened the door and stepped in pushing in the cart he usually used to get their government rations with. Judith came in behind her brother with a hand full of flowers. She marched up to their bed and unceremoniously threw the flowers between them.

"Real classy, sis." Carl said. "You were supposed to hand the flowers to them, not hurl them like a weapon. I hope you do a better job as a flower girl."

"What is this?" Rick asked.

"My wedding gift to you."

"You made us breakfast?" Rick asked as he surveyed the breakfast food on the cart.

Carl set a tray over their laps. "This is just the first part of my gift to you, you don't get the second part until after you finish eating."

"This is so sweet Carl, it looks wonderful." Michonne said staring down at the scrambled eggs, toast , and bacon.

Carl poured coffee in their mugs from the glass coffee carafe.

Rick took a sip. "Damn good coffee. Thanks Carl." He took a bite of his eggs next and they were just as good.

"Can I have you toast daddy?" Jude asked. Rick picked Jude up and sat her on the bed and handed her a piece of toast.

"It taste wonderful. Thanks Carl." Rick said.

"You like your flowers Mimi?" Jude wanted to know.

"I love them, but we'll have to think of something else for you to call me." Michonne said to Judith. "After tomorrow I won't be a Mimi anymore."

"Why won't you be Mimi anymore?" Carl asked.

"Well, my last name will be changing." Michonne explained.

Carl still looked confused for a minute before the light bulb of comprehension lit his face. "Oh,_ Mi_chonne _M_itchell, I get it now, Mimi." Carl shook his head. "I can't believe it took me that long to realize that."

Rick set the cup of coffee he just finished on the night stand, and hit Carl lightly on his forehead with the palm of his hand."You could of had a V8."

Carl rolled his eyes.

"Keep you hands to you self daddy or you go in time out!" Jude demanded.

Rick smirked. "You're right. I'm sorry. "

"Now that we've averted that conflict, don't leave us in suspense Carl, what's the second part of our wedding gift." Michonne asked.

"You have to get out of bed and get ready for that."

"This must be some hell of a gift." Rick said.

"You'll see. Carl said. We'll be waiting in the living room."

After showering and getting dressed Rick and Michonne joined Carl in the living room. He was waiting there with Duane and Tamekia.

"Hi." Michonne said. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to guide you to your wedding present." Tamekia said.

"Guide?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, it's a surprise you can't see so we gotta blindfold you and take you there." Duane explained.

"All right, but I want you to know I'm taking an awful lot on faith."

Carl tied a blindfold around Rick's eyes.

"Can you see?" Carl asked.

"No, but I still know you're waving your hand in front of my face." Rick said.

"Can you see Michonne?" Tamekia asked.

"Nope, its all pitch black."

"Good, now follow my voice." Carl said.

Rick stepped forward gingerly.

"Don't worry Mr. Grimes I won't let you fall." Duane said to his right.

"Good to know." Rick replied.

Duane continued to guide Rick towards Carl's wedding gift. He couldn't imagine what his son's gift could be, but whatever it was Carl sure knew how to make a presentation.

"Not much longer now." Carl told them.

"I smell flowers." Michonne said.

"OK, stop!" Carl commanded.

Rick stopped and felt Duane fumbling around with his blindfold and then it fell away. He blinked a few times and opened his eyes to see that he was standing in the middle of a greenhouse that had been transformed by dripping fairy lights, flowers, and lace. Everywhere Rick looked there were flowers. Flowers of every variety, size, and color. There were candles that had not yet been lit placed all around the greenhouse. The dining chairs from La Pêche had been set up for guest and each one had been adorned with a white lace bow. In the center of the green house was an alter made out of an antique mirror, and above it someone had strung up a crystal chandelier. The morning sunlight streamed through the glass of the green house and refracted off the chandelier making pools of warm dancing rainbows everywhere.

"Oh my goodness it's beautiful." Michonne cried out beside him.

"Welcome to your real wedding!" Carl cried out.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Surprise your son is hi-jacking your wedding." Shane shouted.

"The wedding isn't until tomorrow." Rick said.

"What, what are you talking , What's going on?" Michonne asked.

"I'm giving you the kind of wedding you really want." Carl explained. "One with out The Master Sargent or army being involved."

Michonne hugged Carl. "Thank you so much. I didn't think I'd even get one wedding, but now I'm getting two!"

"You both deserve two weddings, Amy said, Carl you're really smart."

"Actually I wanted to move the wedding out of the ballroom completely, but Annalise said that now might not be the best time to piss the army off, so we're having your real wedding a day early."

Annalise gave a wry laugh. "That among other things. We had a lot of people volunteer and they helped us to get everything set up faster, so we invited them to the wedding."

"So who did you find to marry us if The Master Sargent isn't going to? Rick wanted to know.

"Father Gabriel." Carl said.

"Who?" Michonne asked.

"He's a priest."

"When did you meet a priest?" Rick wanted to know.

"When he came to take a selfie with me." Tyreese filled in.

"What about the guest?"

"It's just us, Deann, and everyone who helped out." Carl explained.

"You ask more questions then I do, and I'm a reporter. Carley said. "Go get ready to get married, man!"

"Can I at least have a kiss before I go?" Rick asked.

"OK, but I'm not sure how Michonne would feel about it."Carley said.

Rick smirked and then pulled Michonne into his arms and kissed her deeply. She sighed happily and melted like ice cream as he worked her mouth open and kissed her harder until he felt someone pulling him away. It was Shane the bastard.

"Come on Officer Frisky save some of that lovin' for the Honeymoon. Shane said

"Dick head." Rick spat.

"I took your tux and everything else you'll need up to Shane's." Carl explained.

"Thank you for this Carl. I'm really touched. It's the best wedding present you could have given me."

Carl smiled up at him. It was Lori's smile. He couldn't help but think of her now. Removing his wedding ring for the first time since Lori's death had not been a decision that he had made without considerable forethought. He had only removed it once he knew that his feelings for Michonne were not going to go anywhere. Soon he would be a married man again and at this point he just wanted the wedding to be over so that he could be married to Michonne and they could finalize the adoption process, but at the same time he want to enjoy every single minute of his weddings.

"You're awful quiet." Shane said.

They had reached Shane's apartel and Rick realized that he had gotten there on autopilot. "I'm just thinking."

"About what? "Shane wanted to know.

"Michonne." His heart beat a little faster just saying her name. "The woman so nice I'm marrying her twice."

"Oh man, she's got you so far gone." Shane said.

"She does and I hope one day you'll be half as lucky to have someone that makes you feel that way."

"I do too. Ya'll really got something special."

Rick smiled. He did. He had Michonne and he had a family, not through blood, but through fate, circumstances, and choices. Fate brought them together, circumstances kept them together, but all of them made the choice to stay together.

As he got dressed for his wedding he went over his vows in his head. He and Michonne had agreed to say their own vows, and earlier Rick had written his vows down, but ripped them up and threw them away. He did not want a planned speech he wanted to be spontaneous and just say what he was feeling at the moment.

Rick's hands were shaking and his palms were sweating and his heart was beating faster in his chest. In just a few moments time Michonne would share his last name. "Damn it I can't get this stupid thing!" He cried out. He had been struggling to tie his bow tie for the last five minutes, but his nerves wouldn't let his body function normally.

"Calm down I got you, after all ain't that what the best man is for." Shane said stepping into his room to tie Rick's bow tie. "There all purdy."

"Looking good dad." Carl said.

"You look good yourself." Carl was wearing a tuxedo that was put together in parts much like his own tuxedo. Like father like son he thought. "Shane could you give us a few moments." Rick asked.

Shane nodded and left the room.

Rick placed his hands on Carl's shoulders and turned to look into his face. He could see a younger version of himself in Carl's face. "Thank you for giving us our own personal wedding, I will always remember this day." He sighed. "After the wedding I'll be going on my honeymoon of sorts, and I won't see you or Jude for awhile, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not always telling you the truth. It's hard being a father. It's hard knowing when to hold on and when to let go. I'm just trying to protect you, but I guess sometimes I try too hard, because one of the worst things that could ever happen to me is losing you." He hugged his son close to him.

"I used to think about you dying all the time." Carl confessed. "I would listen to the police scanner just in case, you know, but Me, Jude, you, and Michonne have already lived through a lot of bad stuff, and that's what I've been focusing on, living.'

Rick put his arm around Carl. "C'mon let's go become a family."

With each second that passed Rick's heart seemed to be beating faster and faster. The wedding he didn't even know he wanted was only minutes away now. This time Rick didn't walk to the garden, the entire wedding party was being transported to the venue on golf carts. Michonne had been driven to the greenhouse already, and was tucked away safe in the gardener's maintenance building, and would remain there until it was her turn to walk down the aisle as the most beautiful bride in the world.

Since the very first time he'd met Michonne his life had been leading up to this. This moment when they would finally become known to the world as Mr. and Mrs. Grimes. The wedding processional began and he let out a slow breath and closed his eyes. Slowly he opened his eyes, and as soon as he looked down the aisle towards the alter he felt a rush of emotions. An instrumental version of Radiohead's Love waits cued Rick to begin his walk down the aisle. He felt everyone's eyes on him but he didn't see them. He didn't feel them. He could only think of how Michonne would look walking down the aisle towards him.

Pachelbel 's Canon in D began to play. The guest rose from their seats for Michonne.

She didn't walk down the aisle she floated. She was poetry in motion. There was a gentle wind blowing that lifted the train of Michonne's wedding dress making her seem like an angel descending upon earth. Michonne looked up through her eyelashes and smiled at him. It was coy yet suggestive. It was her smile just for him. It was hypnotic and ever time she smiled at him like that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Having Michonne in his life made him happier than he had any right to be.

He looked over to Carl and Jude. They were both smiling. Jude looked like a little princess in her white lace dress. No one had gone into very much detail to explain to her exactly what a wedding was, but some how his daughter seemed to get the gist. She even knew that Michonne was becoming her new mommy. She had gone from calling Michonne Mimi to Mimom. Michonne didn't have to think of something else for Michonne to call her Judith had thought of it herself.

Carl winked at him and Rick grinned.

"Beloved Friends, Family, we have joined here today to share with Rick and Michonne an important moment in their lives. Their time together, they have seen their love and understanding of each other grow and blossom and now they have decided to live out the rest of their lives as one." Began Father Gabriel.

Rick didn't know much about Father Gabriel, but he was thankful to him for marrying them.

"Rick and Michonne have chosen to recite their own vows, Rick."

The beating of his heart was so loud that he could hear it in his own ears. He felt like it was the very first time he'd ever met Michonne because he was so nervous. He looked up into her warm brown eyes and felt comforted. All the love she felt for him was in her eyes. All her loyalty to him and their children was in her eyes. He reached down and took her hands and held them in his a moment before speaking.

"I have been waiting for this day longer than you probably think I have. You came into my life like a force of nature and I did everything I could to get you to see me again. I'm still not sure why you did, but I'm the luckiest man in the world because you did. For the rest of my life I get to have you by my side. I get to be in love with my best friend and I get to watch you be in love with our children. You make me complete Michonne, and it's all I've ever asked for. You are everything I have ever asked for. I love you.

Michonne's eyes were glistening with tears. "When I first saw you sleeping on that couch and you look so tired, I must confess I fell in love with you a little bit then. From that moment on we didn't seem to be able to stay out of each others life, and I don't think we're supposed too. I love you Rick, and I love Carl and Judith. There is no one on this earth that I'd rather spend the rest of my life with, than the three of you. You loved me when there were times when I couldn't love myself. So much has happened between us since now and when we first met, and you've stood by side though everything, and I will stand by you through everything. I love you."

"Beloved Friends, Family if you please, your applause for Mr. and Mrs. Grimes."

Rick kissed Michonne softly on her lips and grazed her cheek softly. Married. He was married. Finally Michonne was his wife. "I love you so much." He whispered in her ear.

"I love you too, Rick." She said and rested her head on his shoulder. He could feel her heart beating next to his.

Outside a sudden light summer shower began.

"Rainbow!" Jude called as she looked outside. "Daddy! Mimom a rainbow."

"It's a sign!" Amy cried. "Even the earth ships you two."

As soon as it had come the rain stopped leaving behind the rainbow and the fresh smell of earth and rain.

Rick took Michonne's hand in his and they ran out of the greenhouse, and across the now damp cloth runner amid a shower of rose petals. Michonne looked like a goddess in her sheer flowing wedding gown with the rose petals flying all around her. A few of them stuck in her hair making her look even more beautiful than possible. Shane drove them back to their apartel on the golf cart. Rick held Michonne's hand for the whole trip and stared into her eyes. After everything the two of them had gone through he did not ever want to forget this day. Their wedding day.

Michonne went to open the door of their apartel, but Rick stopped her picked her up and carried her over the threshold.

"Thank you husband." Michonne teased as Rick set her on the floor.

"You are most welcome wife."

Rick didn't know where in the hell he would be in a year, a month, or even a week from now, but wherever it was he knew he could get there with Michonne by his side. She would never give up on him just like he would never give up on her. After changing into some of their nicer clothes Rick and Michonne Grimes joined their wedding guest at La Pêche for a small intimate wedding dinner. Walking through the door they were greeted by cheers, clapping, and a wolf whistle from Shane.

"How do you feel." Shane wanted to know.

"Married." Rick replied.

"Ditto." Michonne said holding up her ring.

"Congratulations dad and mom." Carl shouted out and Michonne burst into tears.

She rushed over to hug Carl on the cheek and left an imprint of her lipstick there, which he grimaced and brushed off.

Rick laughed.

"That wedding was so beautiful. Thank you Carl, thank you Annalise. Thanks to everyone. I needed this wedding as much as the Q.U.A.D needs the wedding we'll be having tomorrow."

"Let's toast." Shane said. "To your marriage today, to your wedding tomorrow, and to rest of your lives."

Rick held up his champagne flute next to Michonne's and looked deep into her eyes. "To the rest of our lives."

"To the rest of our lives." Michonne said back and clinked his champagne flute against hers.

Dinner was delicious. Eggplant eggplant Parmesan and a fresh green salad from the garden.

Annalise had baked them a cupcake for two as a pre-wedding cake cake. Rick took Michonne half and popped it into her mouth and then kissed off the trail of icing he'd left here.

"Mmm." Michonne purred into his mouth.

She returned the favor and popped the second half of the cupcake into his mouth. He felt her tongue slide into his mouth. She still tasted of frosting and he didn't know how, but kissing her as his wife turned him on even more. He pulled away from her lips feeling more than desire for her. He felt like he was a part of her and she was a part of him. He could no longer be who he was without her. He had never before made a choice that felt so completely right and he couldn't wait for tomorrow so that he could marry her all over again.


End file.
